Technofeudalism - by Yanis Varoufakis (Paperback)

About the Book

"Big tech has replaced capitalism's twin pillars--markets and profit--with its platforms and rents. With every click and scroll, we labor like serfs to increase its power. Welcome to technofeudalism..."--

Book Synopsis

"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

In a revelatory and pathbreaking work, the #1 international bestselling economist opens our eyes to the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world . . .

"The Thucydides of our time." --Jeffrey Sachs

Big tech has replaced capitalism's twin pillars--markets and profit--with its platforms and rents. With every click and scroll, we labor like serfs to increase its power.

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.

Review Quotes

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

"The main virtue of Varoufakis's book is that it poses the problem of global digitally mediated value. This by itself is illuminating, whether we adopt the term 'technofeudalism' or not." - Front Porch Republic

Varoufakis's core point, that capitalism will change as technology does, is surely right, and essential
"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

"This book by one of today's leading progressive thinkers is a major contribution to understanding the times we live in." -- Foreign Policy in Focus

"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)

About the Author

Yanis Varoufakis is an economist, political leader, and the author of numerous bestselling books, including Talking to My Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism, Adults in the Room, a memoir of his time as finance minister of Greece. Born in Athens, he was for many years a professor of economics in Britain, Australia, and the USA, before he entered politics, serving in Parliament until May, 2023. He is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Athens, and is Secretary-General of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DEM25).