Occupy activist and anthropologist David Graeber (59) passed away

American activist and scientist David Graeber died in Venice at the age of 59. His literary agent reports this. Graeber was best known for his role in the anti-capitalist protest movement Occupy Wall Street, which emerged in the US after the 2008 credit crunch. The cause of death is unknown.

Graeber is seen as the creator of the slogan “we are the 99 percent”, which refers to all Americans who are not part of the financial elite (the “one percent”) and who have not benefited from decades of economic growth. Graeber himself said that he had come up with that slogan together with some other activists.

In 2015, he turned up in the Maagdenhuis in Amsterdam, to encourage the students who had occupied the building in protest against the marketing of the university:

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