The Origins of Modern Debt Politics in Greece and Rome – Reading Michael Hudson’s “The Collapse of Antiquity”

David Graeber counted Michael Hudson’s work on Mesopotamian debt Jubilees as well as the structure of American imperialism as major influences on his book “Debt – the first 5000 years”. Currently Hudson is working on a trilogy on the history of debt, the first of which “…and forgive them their debts” was released in 2018 followed by “The Collapse of Antiquity” this year. As a follow-up to our reading group on Graeber’s “Debt” we will read Hudson’s “The Collapse of Antiquity” as of September 2023.

The ebook is available here:

We try to provide as much material as possible. If you want/can support the author the book can be purchased below.

The Collapse of Antiquity – Digital Book

Reading material:

Session 1:

Please read the summery below. The intro farther down is a good way to immerse into the material even deeper but not required.

Session 2:

We keep a running document for people to catch up and comment. This should allow you to follow the discussion. Check the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BrkeryoR_-gqstFs0WlIBhAFj3pzPwocS4HZBEcGtFI/edit?usp=sharing

For a deeper look read chapters 2 and 3.

Other material:

Here is a good interview with Michael Hudson about his book: