The Gift (book)
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- This article is about the Marcel Mauss book. For other uses, see The Gift.
The Gift is a short book by Marcel Mauss best known for being one of the earliest and most important studies of reciprocity and gift exchange.
Mauss's original piece was entitled Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l'échange dans les sociétés archaïques ("An essay on the gift: the form and reason of exchange in archaic societies") and was originally published in the Annee Sociologique in 1923-1924. The essay was later republished in book form in English in two translations. The first, by Ian Cunnison, appeared in 1954. The second, by W.D. Halls, appeared in 1990.
Mauss's essay focuses on the way that the exchange of objects between groups builds relationships between them. He argued that giving an object creates an inherent obligation on the receiver to reciprocate the gift. The resulting series of exchanges between groups thus provided one of the earliest forms of social solidarity used by humans.
The essay drew on a wide range of ethnographic examples. Mauss drew on Bronislaw Malinowski's study of kula exchange, the institution of the potlatch, and Polynesian ethnography to demonstrate how widespread practices of gift giving were in non-European societies. In later sections of the book he examined Indian history and suggested that traces of gift exchange could be found in more 'developed' societies as well. In the conclusion of the book he suggested that industrialized, secular societies such as his own could benefit from recognizing this dynamic of gift giving.
Mauss has been very influential in anthropology, where his work has created a large field of studies of reciprocity and exchange. He has also influenced artists and political activists (including the College of Sociology) who found in his image of gift giving a way to think about social relationships outside of capitalist economies. Many today see Mauss's work as an example of the way in which selfless giving can promote a better way of living. It should be noted, however, that Mauss himself described gift exchange as often highly competitive, and at times antagonistic and self-interested.
