Yanis Varoufakis
discussing his new book
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
published by Melville House
Welcome to technofeudalism . . .
Perhaps we were too distracted by the pandemic, or the endless financial crises, or the rise of TikTok. But under cover of them all, a new and more exploitative system has been taking hold. Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies after the crash of 2008 went to big tech instead. With it they funded the construction of their private cloud fiefdoms and privatized the internet.
Technofeudalism says Yanis Varoufakis, is the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world, and is the greatest current threat to the liberal individual, to our efforts to avert climate catastrophe—and to democracy itself. It also lies behind the new geopolitical tensions, especially the New Cold War between the United States and China.
Drawing on stories from Greek myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men, Varoufakis explains this revolutionary transformation: how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of global power, and, ultimately, what it will take overthrow it.
Yanis Varoufakis is an economist and academic, a bestselling author, and the former finance minister of Greece. He is a co-founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. His books include And the Weak Suffer What They Must?, Talking to My Daughter About the Economy, Adults in the Room, and Foundations of Economics.
Praise for Technofeudalism
Bloomberg News Anticipated Book for 2024
Bloomberg News Best New Books for 2024
“Blending intellectual memoir, history, and economic and technological history, Varoufakis creates an intimate atmosphere that is a genuine pleasure to read … It’s hard to read this book and deny its power … illuminating.” – The Washington Post
“Throughout, Varoufakis’s exuberant prose amuses. Readers who feel burned out by intrusive apps, relentless advertising, and inexorable algorithms will revel in this fiery complaint.” – Publishers Weekly STARRED Review
“The rare economist to hit international bestseller lists, Varoufakis is known for his left-of-center political positions and outspoken statements while serving as Greece’s finance minister. His newest book argues that capitalism is over; its sinister replacement, he writes, has emerged in the form of Big Tech, which has single-handedly taken control of most of global society. Unsurprisingly, Varoufakis isn’t a fan of the new order.” —Bloomberg News
“Engaging prose. Varoufakis’s talent for explaining economic developments in accessible language shines throughout…convincing and enlightening. We all should and we can be grateful to have a comrade like [Varoufakis].” —Jacobin
“[Varoufakis has] a talent for synthesizing complex economic issues. The narrative is entertaining, and the author’s arguments are sure to be popular among economic theorists and students.” —Kirkus Reviews
“This sort of macroeconomic musing on capitalism’s succession is worth taking seriously, for it pushes the reader to ask whether we’re observing business as usual or something else—and what business as usual even means. In particular, by tying capitalism’s development to the evolution of the internet and the computer, ” – The Washington Free Beacon
“Few finance ministers have such a talent for economics as Yanis Varoufakis.” — Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning economist
“An outstanding economist and political analyst.” — Noam Chomsky
““What if capitalism died and no one noticed — not even the capitalists? Digital platforms usurped capitalism and installed something far worse. This book is an urgent demand to seize the means of computation.” — Cory Doctorow
“The Thucydides of our time.” — Jeffrey Sachs
“An important new book that describes what is happening in terms of an epochal, once-in-a-millennium shift … In Varoufakis’s telling, this isn’t just new technology. This is the world grappling with an entirely new economic system and therefore political power.” — Carole Cadwalladr, The Observer (London)
Arresting … an ambitious thinker and a lively writer … Varoufakis is right that we are in thrall to digital platforms, who hold our data hostage and prevent us from switching to “a competing cloud fief” ― The Times (London)
Made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation.