His death occurred way too suddenly. I don’t have a satisfactory way to talk about David Graeber. I got to know him during the protest against the 2008 G8 Summit that took place in Hokkaido. In Japan the translation of his Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology was published in 2006, and has since been inspiring many of us Japanese anarchists and feminists. We nurtured tremendous sympathy to the anarchist method and manner of building consensus that he introduced, thanks to which we were able to polish our senses for the original form of creating human connectivity.
Meanwhile, David’s person impressed me a great deal. I was struck by his innocent liveliness, how, during breaks from lectures and discussions, he totally immersed himself in everything that fascinated him, people’s behaviors, street signs, urban spaces and so on.
I am wondering what kind of journey is waiting for his books and his spirit. I believe they will embrace and encourage people, wherever they go.
— Mari Matsumoto from Tokyo
あまりに突然のことで、まだ、十分なことばも浮かびません。グレーバーさんとは2008年に日本の北海道で開かれたG8サミットのプロテスト・ツアーの一環でお会いしました。日本では2006年に「アナーキスト人類学のための断章」が、翻訳紹介されたばかりでした。私たち日本のアクティヴストやフェミニストは、その著作で紹介された、アナキスト的合意形成の方法、作法にとても共感しました。ひとがひととつながる原初形態についての感覚をとぎすまされました。それから、印象的だったのは講演のあいま、旅の途中で、グレーバーさんは店の小さな看板や、人のうごきになんでもに興味を示し、天衣無縫にふるまっていたことです。これから、また彼は、また彼の魂と彼の著作は、どんな旅をつづけるのでしょうか。行く先々で、人々をなごませ、はげますことと思います。
──松本麻里、東京