Marcel Mauss: A Biography (review)

The academic neophytes among us may take stock in the fact that the famous Marcel Mauss launched his career by writing book reviews; likewise, that the author of "The Gift" attained scholarly greatness despite his tendency to "set to work only when goaded by necessity, that is, at the last minute" (70). But these cocktail party trivia are hardly the most interesting insights that biographer Marcel Fournier offers into Mauss' life and work. As the book's introduction proudly announces, "The intellectual legacy bequeathed by this great scholar, long unappreciated by everyone but anthropologists, is now available to the academic community" (1). But after reading this engaging intellectual history, I would venture that even anthropology (at least in the United States) generally fails to recognize the scope of Mauss' contributions as both a scholar and a public intellectual. Although the book's all-inclusive nature does not allow for much analysis of Mauss' writing (and inhibits, at times, overall readability), it provides a valuable perspective of the man, the disciplines he helped to establish, and their sociopolitical context.

The first part of the book covers Mauss' childhood in Épinal through his university studies at Bordeaux and the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, where he developed his specialization in "primitive" religion, met influential men such as Sylvain Lévi and Henrí Hubert, and played a pivotal role in the creation of Durkheim's famed Année Sociologique. Aptly entitled "Durkheim's Nephew," we learn as much in this section about the uncle as we do the nephew. However, here Fournier also begins the task, pursued throughout the book, of showing that Mauss was more than "just a Durkheimian." Mauss' political activism, began as a university student, is major factor distinguishing him from the more "indirect" style of his uncle.

The next section traces Mauss' early teaching career and publications both academic and political. Two chapters in the section are devoted entirely to his socialist activities. A devoted follower of the French Socialist leader Jean Jaurés, "Citizen Mauss" was active in various organizations and publications throughout his life, shifting allegiances whenever the goals of these groups no longer fit his always pragmatic and nuanced principles.

The second section ends with the First World War. The Great War, as is well known, was a devastating blow both personally and professionally to the French sociologists. Yet we are surprised to learn that Mauss also thrived as a soldier: "I ride horses, I play soldier…I was made for this and not for sociology" (175). He emerged from the war "tired but crowned with glory and sporting many medals" (184) despite his 46 years.

It was in the interwar period, as Fournier relates in his third and fourth sections, that Mauss did the work for which he is best known. He was truly prolific during this time: He continued his socialist activities, worked in peace movements, wrote on Bolshevism, violence, and the French economy. He secured Durkheim's legacy by editing his late uncle's previously unpublished work, helped to found the Institut d'Ethnologie, and took up the elephantine task of reviving the Année, all while suffering many personal losses and health problems. In 1925, he published "The Gift," where he investigated the phenomena of reciprocity ["insufficiently developed by Durkheim" (245)] and developed the notion of "total social fact." For Mauss, who preferred to "simply work on my materials…and go on to something else" rather than "developing systematic theories" (287), "The Gift" is a rare example of just such a contribution to general social science theory.

The tragic effects of World War Two are unfortunately relegated to the epilogue, a label that evokes summary, extraneous material. The content is anything but: The image of the elderly Mauss, whose professional duties (with salary), civil rights and very dignity were gradually stripped away under the Vichy regime, is as heart rendering as it is outrageous. Equally unbelievable is Mauss' stoic acquiescence and seeming incapacity to come to terms with the...