Sign-In
Cart
The Gift the Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies
Paperback
Art HistoryGeneral ComputersGeneral World History
ISBN13: 9781618952332
Publisher: Bibliotech Pr
Published: Jan 1 2018
Pages: 146
Weight: 0.49
Height: 0.34 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The Gift is a short book by the French sociologist Marcel Mauss that is the foundation of social theories 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 L'Année Sociologique in 1925. The essay was later republished in French in 1950 and translated into English in 1954 by Ian Cunnison, in 1990 by W. D. Halls, and in 2016 by Jane I. Guyer.
Mauss's essay focuses on the way that the exchange of objects between groups builds relationships between humans.
It analyzes the economic practices of various so-called archaic societies and finds that they have a common central practice centered on reciprocal exchange. In them, he finds evidence contrary to the presumptions of modern Western societies about the history and nature of exchange. He shows that early exchange systems center around the obligations to give, to receive, and, most importantly, to reciprocate. They occur between groups, not only individuals, and they are a crucial part of total phenomena that work to build not just wealth and alliances but social solidarity because the gift pervades all aspects of the society. He uses a comparative method, drawing upon published secondary scholarship on peoples from around the world, but especially the Pacific Northwest (especially potlatch).
After examining the reciprocal gift-giving practices of each, he finds in them common features, despite some variation. From the disparate evidence, he builds a case for a foundation to human society based on collective (vs. individual) exchange practices. In so doing, he refutes the English tradition of liberal thought, such as utilitarianism, as distortions of human exchange practices. He concludes by speculating that social welfare programs may be recovering some aspects of the morality of the gift within modern market economies. (wikipedia.org)
Also in
Art History
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
Young, Michelle
Hardcover
Flashes of Brilliance: The Genius of Early Photography and How It Transformed Art, Science, and History
Burgess, Anika
Hardcover
Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World's Greatest Museum
Sciolino, Elaine
Hardcover
Paint by Sticker (Official): Works of Art: Re-Create 12 Iconic Masterpieces One Sticker at a Time!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Paint by Sticker (Official): Masterpieces: Re-Create 12 Iconic Artworks One Sticker at a Time!
Workman Publishing
Paperback
Oliver Byrne's Elements of Euclid: The First Six Books with Coloured Diagrams and Symbols (Art Meets Science Edition)
Art Meets Science
Hardcover
Pow! Right in the Eye!: Thirty Years Behind the Scenes of Modern French Painting
Weill, Berthe
Hardcover
Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us about the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive
Ramsey, Russ
Hardcover
William Blake and the Sea Monsters of Love: Art, Poetry, and the Imagining of a New World
Hoare, Philip
Hardcover
The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive
Nabugodi, Mathelinda
Hardcover
The Accidental Picasso Thief: The True Story of a Reverse Heist, Outrunning the Fbi, and Fleeing the Boston Mob
Charney, Noah
Rummel, Whit
Hardcover
The Annotated Mona Lisa, Third Edition: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to the Present
Strickland, Carol
Paperback
The Short Story of Queer Art: A Pocket Guide to Key Movements, Works, Themes & Breakthroughs
Hoskin, Dawn
Paperback
Closer to Vermeer: New Research on the Painter and His Art
Vandivere, Abbie
Mahon, Dorothy
Verslype, Ige
Hardcover
Black Artists in America: From the Bicentennial to September 11
Daugherty, Ellen
McGee, Julie L.
Lovelle Jenkins, Earnestine
Hardcover
Femina: A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
Ramirez, Janina
Hardcover
Rethinking American Art: Collectors, Critics, and the Changing Canon
Stebbins Jr, Theodore E.
Hardcover
Weaving at Black Mountain College: Anni Albers, Trude Guermonprez, and Their Students
Beggs, Michael
Thomson, Julie J.
Hardcover
Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction: Expanded Edition
Rawlins, Christopher
Hardcover
AP Art History Premium, Sixth Edition: Prep Book with 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Nici, John B.
Paperback
How Not to Be a Basic Peasant: A Medieval Bard's Guide to Living Your Best Life
Mulrooney, Kristen
Hardcover
The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript
Díaz, Gisele
Rodgers, Alan
Paperback
Artcurious: Stories of the Unexpected, Slightly Odd, and Strangely Wonderful in Art History
Dasal, Jennifer
Paperback
William Blake. Dante's 'Divine Comedy'. the Complete Drawings
Schütze, Sebastian
Terzoli, Maria Antonietta
Hardcover
The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Edsel, Robert M.
Paperback