The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy (Utopiya Pravil)

In 'Utopia of Rules,' American anthropologist David Graeber (1961-2020) attempts to expose the omnipresent yet often hidden modern bureaucracy that shapes us all. He locates the origins of this total regulation of social life in the philosophy of the Pythagoreans, who considered 'rationality in itself a value' and devised a way of thinking about the world through which bureaucracy seeks to 'transform itself into a grand cosmological scheme.' Touching on topics as diverse as the rise of right-wing economists and the hidden meanings of stories about Sherlock Holmes and Batman, 'Utopia of Rules' combines a profound look at social theory in the tradition of Marx and Foucault with an engaging analysis of popular culture that evokes Slavoj Žižek at his most accessible.