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The Gift Economy Whereas a gift is a simple and direct something-for-nothing offering, gift exchange is part of an elaborate social and economic system with rules and consequences . Gift exchange dictates that there is no such thing as a free gift. There are always strings attached. Of the many scholars who have studied exchange, none ¤gure more prominently here than anthropologist Marcel Mauss. On the basis of extensive description from existing ethnographies, Mauss developed a theory in the 1920s regarding gift-exchange systems. He built his model on cross-cultural social and economic elements from contemporaneous societies in Polynesia, Melanesia, and the American Northwest, as well as past Roman, Hindu, Germanic, Celtic, and Chinese civilizations. Although he did not explicitly detail a commodity-exchange system in his text, Mauss frequently contrasted gift economies he analyzed with the market economy in which he lived. For example, when describing similar gift-exchange systems from different geographic regions and time periods, Mauss lamented the early 20th-century European commodity-based system, led by “the cold reasoning of the merchant , the banker . . . the capitalist,” and other members of “Homo oeconomicus ” (Mauss 1990:75, 76). Mauss posited that gift- and commodity-exchange systems do not mutually exclude each other. Gift giving exists in a commodity economy and sale occurs in a gift-based system (Mauss 1990:76; Otnes and Beltramini 1996:3; Carrier 1990). He maintained, however, that ultimately one of these two types of exchange dominates every economy (Malinowski 1922). In fact, Mauss declared that the predominant exchange system—either gift-based or commoditybased —works its way into every aspect of a given society (Mauss 1990:29). The 2 Gifts and Commodities particular type of economy is thus inseparable from the group’s total social phenomenon (Hyde 1983:xv). Mauss grounded his work in the concept of the social fact, referring to a phenomenon so pervasive that it could not be reduced to the sum of the individuals in a speci¤c culture and was independent from their consciousness. He developed these ideas from the writings of his mentor and uncle, anthropologist and sociologist Émile Durkheim (See Durkheim 1938). The Form and Motivations of Gift Exchange The riddle of the gift lies in the uncertainty of what drives it—generosity or obligation. Mauss believed that both forces were catalysts for gift giving. The transactions may take the form of unconditional and unsolicited offerings, but these gifts are, quite to the contrary, mandatory. Paradoxically, there is nothing free about the seemingly free gift and nothing altruistic about the giver. The duality of the gift system is that its participants make offerings both because they want to and because they are obliged (Mauss 1990:71). Mauss poetically captured this balance between desire and obligation, writing that, “Society always pays itself in the counterfeit coin of its dream”(Bourdieu 1997c:231). His metaphor captures two distinct aspects of the gift. “Society paying itself” is a reference to obligatory reciprocity, the mandatory offerings made by individuals in the gift economy. One must participate and give presents . The fact that giving is required makes the act seem more like a payment than a gift. Yet the exchange is made “in the counterfeit coin of its dream.”The offering maintains the super¤cial form of pure something-for-nothing generosity , dubiously appearing to be a sel®ess act of altruism. Although these transactions are indeed mandatory, they are indistinguishable from magnanimity. The dream is generosity; the hidden reality is an obligation to give (Mallios 2005a). Gift-Exchange Obligations When passing gifts back and forth, participants in the gift economy must satisfy three obligations: they have to give, receive, and reciprocate. Failure to ful-¤ll any of these duties results in a loss of social status (Mauss 1990:39–41). In gift societies, there is no greater personal devastation; loss of prestige is tantamount to spiritual death.Yet gift-based gains to individual prestige are twofold. First, a gift offering signi¤es the belief that the giver is and will remain fortunate enough and held in favor by the supernatural to do without the item. The public offering of the gift draws attention to this good fortune, thereby raising 26 / Gifts and Commodities the individual’s status. Second, the giver’s prestige also increases once the gift is accepted because the offering obliges the recipient to return the favor.Indebtedness holds paramount importance because members of a gift economy endeavor to maximize the number of debts owed to them...

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