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A review by volbet
The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy, Volume I: Consumption by Robert Hurley, Georges Bataille
4.0
I guess the best way to describe the Accursed Share Vol. I is a piece of political economy written by someone that has no interest in actually economy.
The main thesis is that modern economists have used a wrong approach to their study of human economy. Bataille's interest lies not in the production of wealth, but rather in the consumption of wealth. It is the consumption that, according to Bataille, is a determining factor in how human act and think.
It's therefore important to consider economy in a wide scale, as well. Rather than seeing the study of economy as simply relating to capital, Bataille sees it as energy. Economy is the way humans express their energy, and it's the unproductive excesses of this energy that is the "Accursed Share."
While this is only the first of three volumes, and a rather short read, Bataille does manage to argue his case rather well. Going all the way from the Incas of Mexico, of the Caliphs of the Islamic Empire to the Marshall Plan, Bataille demonstrates how consumption is the determining factor in human action.
It's essentially economy view through the collective lens of Nietzsche, Heidegger and de Saussure.
The main thesis is that modern economists have used a wrong approach to their study of human economy. Bataille's interest lies not in the production of wealth, but rather in the consumption of wealth. It is the consumption that, according to Bataille, is a determining factor in how human act and think.
It's therefore important to consider economy in a wide scale, as well. Rather than seeing the study of economy as simply relating to capital, Bataille sees it as energy. Economy is the way humans express their energy, and it's the unproductive excesses of this energy that is the "Accursed Share."
While this is only the first of three volumes, and a rather short read, Bataille does manage to argue his case rather well. Going all the way from the Incas of Mexico, of the Caliphs of the Islamic Empire to the Marshall Plan, Bataille demonstrates how consumption is the determining factor in human action.
It's essentially economy view through the collective lens of Nietzsche, Heidegger and de Saussure.