The political economy of predation: manhunting and the economics of escape
A work of great originality and ambition. Mehrdad Vahabi’s concept of predation is an illuminating lens through which to see different forms of rule. The idea of domestication as a ‘prolonged’ form of predation, compatible with the survival (indeed, possibly thriving) of the object (plant, mammal, homo-sapiens) of that predation is, I think, very good to think with.’
James C. Scott Sterling Professor of Political Science and Anthropology, Yale University
‘Standard economics has long assumed a society of free, contracting individuals with equal legal rights. Power and authority are understood in contractual terms. In his most powerful statement to date, Mehrdad Vahabi challenges all that. Violence and subjugation are brought back into the picture. We are forced to rethink everything.’
Geoffrey M. Hodgson University of Hertfordshire
