"Decolonizing the Enlightenment": a search for the origins of ideas of freedom and equality in the "pirate kingdom" of Madagascar.

This final, posthumously published book by American anthropologist David Graeber (1961–2020) is the result of an expedition to Madagascar he undertook while a graduate student at the University of Chicago. In this work, Graeber sharply criticizes the Eurocentric view that "savage peoples" can only become civilized through competent European governance. The book represents a bold attempt to restore anthropology and ethnography to their original purpose: seeking alternative perspectives on the development of society and culture. Graeber "decolonizes the Enlightenment," arguing that the roots of ideas regarding equality, freedom, and justice should be sought beyond the confines of "Western civilization." He asserts unequivocally that the very egalitarian "pirate kingdoms" of legend—such as Libertalia—did, in fact, exist. Through the example of the Betsimisaraka Confederation, Graeber describes the structure of a real-world "society of the future"—the kind of society that Thomas More and other authors of utopias had only ever fantasized about.