The Accursed Share av Georges Bataille

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<p><b>From the acclaimed French philosopher, intellectual, and novelist, a brilliant account of the social and economic costs of civilization</b><br><br>In this important work, Georges Bataille uses his novel economic theory as the basis for an incisive inquiry into the very nature of civilization. He introduces here his concept of the <i>accursed share</i>, the surplus energy that any system, natural or cultural, must expend; it is this expenditure, according to Bataille, that most clearly defines a society. His examples include sacrifice among the Aztecs, potlatch among the Northwest Coast Indians, military conquest in Islam, and Buddhist monasticism in Tibet.<br><br>In this way, Bataille proposes a theory of a “general economy” based on excess and exuberance that radically revises conventional economic models of scarcity and utility. A brilliant blend of economics and aesthetics, ethics and anthropology, <i>The Accursed Share</i> provides an excellent introduction to Bat