This is a seriously profound book for understanding the relationships between activism and culture. Graeber's ability to shed light on the power dynamics involved in various elements of civil disobedience and in things like "why do police hate puppets" is absolutely brilliant. This may be one of my favorite anthropology books of the last decade. I very much recommend this book. And I will read it several more times.

(8/10) In Direct Action, David Graeber sets out on what is ostensibly an anthropological ethnography of anarchist politics and the anti-globalization movement. As an active participant in these movements, Graeber offers a lot of insight into both the nuts-and-bolts preparation for major protests and the larger understanding of the world that shapes anarchist praxis. For those interested in the movement, this is almost too much detail -- but, as Graeber argues, meaningful action and understanding...

Extremely dense but great to have such a detailed description of the inner workings of direct action an radical organizing.

I was thinking of doing an abridged edition of this book for a university press - that way it could be assigned for classes. (I felt it was important to publish the long version first, if only for documentary purposes, because so much history would otherwise be lost. But obviously it cuts down on the book's appeal, even though it was designed so you can skip around in it and don't have to read the whole thing.)So what do people think: which parts would definitely have to stay, and which are disp...

With "Direct Action" David Graeber has written an important and timely book. If, as he argues, the ideology of the global justice movement, is embodied in its practices, then it really doesn't make sense to try and understand it by some generic or superficial description of its stated ideologies. Rather, it would have to begin from an analysis of movement building practices and organizing, and what kinds of collective compositions they create and sustain. In other words, it would necessarily inv...

This was one of the books I was least excited about in my to read pile, but ended up being one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. It's a physically daunting book to pick up, perhaps more so than many similar length books I've read lately. Yet that is full dispelled within the first few pages. The first section is highly conversational, and easy to follow. Dropping the reader straight into an activist group, Graeber does a great job of immersing you in the world of the acti...

If I didn't read this book, I probably would have dropped out of my master's program, completely disillusioned with anthropology and the state of many current ethnographies which reinforce oppressive hegemonic, racist and oppressive structures. Graeber sets out to achieve a super lofty goal, and I think for the most part he achieved it! which in itself is pretty incredible. The book was captivating and I learned a lot, particularly stylistically how to write a successful auto-ethnography. From m...

Having borrowed this door-stopper from a public library, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish it before the last allowed renewal but then I got into it. The first half of the book is the "ethnography," which I put in quotes because it didn't feel like the ethnographies I normally read, you know, about indigenous cultures. There is obviously going to be a lot more understanding between Graeber and the members of the direct action tribe than there would be between the anthropologist and the c...

Very readable account of Black Bloc / anarchist protest actions in the early 2000s, primarily leading to the Quebec G20 summit of 2000. Consists of Graeber's personal involvement, notes, minutes, and summaries of many public meetings in preparing for the summit; analysis of the nature of non-violence and civil disobedience in America post-1990s (in light of the Zapatistas, Earth First!, and Seattle WTO 1999); detailed thoughts on the consensus decision process as exercised particularly by the Di...

Jesus Fucking Christ! This was a marathon book for me. Took over a year to read with a 6 month break. BUT what wonder--what treasures--what gold!! I love graeber's writing--detailed, to the point, great analysis, interesting perspectives...gah. And here--direct action and anarchism! With his own experiences to highlight both. AND there's some theory at the end! I liked the end and the beginning. The middle gets mushy but that might be because i took a 6 month break and because I recall him talki...

Update: This was one of the main books we recommended at Skylight for folks coming looking for a way to think about and understand the Occupy movement. How awesome was it to be able to hand people something with a blow-by-blow account of consensus process in a direct action context? So awesome that I guess the publisher's out of stock and now we're waiting for a reprint.[From 2008] It's actually finally out! For real! (year and a half late, I think?) Now I just need to find a copy.

An insightful and invigorating glance at activist culture. I read it before it was even done and I couldn't wait for it to come out. I recommended it to many people before it was even published!!!!

One of my favourites, it's not short, but for me at least it had quite an impact on my life.

See other's reviews for a more accurate takeaway.This book is important for me. I have been considering myself as a passive anarchist for a time now. I am more of a bottom-feeder, content to live underground and feast on the scraps than a come above ground to stir up the Spectacle that drove us underground type. I cannot involve myself in any sort of direct action. Though, through this thorough and thoughtful tome, I better understand the movement. Graeber's book encapsulates the genius, tedium,...

I have to admit that I have to skip some of the ethnographic reports. Although it's important and rigorous, besides the build-up to Quebec and information regarding activist's gestures and lingo in direct action and horizontal consensus meeting, the rest of the ethnographic notes are not engaging enough for me (I really like the exposition of tactics in The Democracy Project though). Anyway, the theoretical analysis of practice, organisation, violence, and imagination is superb, especially the a...

Graeber gives a good sense of what day-to-day anarchist activism in North America looks like, what direct action is, and—probably unintentionally—how anarchist activists reason themselves out of ever doing it. Despite being sympathetic to it, being an anarchist himself, he paints the North American anarchist activist community as an inward-looking circle-jerk that's about as likely to accomplish immediate tiny goals as liberal protesters (whose tactics, big talk on the part of anarchists aside,