In "The Utopia of Rules," American anthropologist David Graeber (1961–2020) attempts to expose the pervasive yet often hidden modern bureaucracy that shapes all of us. He traces the origins of the total regulation of social life to the philosophy of the Pythagoreans, who valued "rationality for its own sake" and devised a way of thinking about the world that allows bureaucracy to "turn itself into a grand cosmological scheme."

Addressing diverse topics such as the rise of right-wing economists and the hidden meanings in stories about Sherlock Holmes and Batman, "The Utopia of Rules" combines a profound look at social theory in the traditions of Marx and Foucault with an engaging analysis of popular culture. This approach is reminiscent of Slavoj Žižek in his most accessible form.