Take a photo of a barcode or cover
tabularasablog 's review for:
The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies
by Marcel Mauss
It was at one of my two libraries back home that I found myself reading more non-fiction than fiction. I stumbled upon A General Theory of Magic by Marcel Mauss, and it left me completely intrigued. I read later than Mauss is a well known and widely criticized French sociologist - the best kind. So of course, I had to read The Gift when I found it at my university library. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies is a book that explores the social, legal, religious and economic reasons that lead to the web of conventions and obligations associated with the exchange of gifts. It makes an endlessly interesting read, if you're prepared to take some judgments and conclusions with a pinch of salt, and refuse to be intimidated by the complicated academic writing. It's also hilarious in its sincerity, and presents ideas that can be very useful, if wielded correctly. Paraphrased from the introduction:
Charity is meant to be a free gift, a voluntary, unrequited surrender of resources. Though we laud charity as a Christian virtue we know that it wounds. The whole idea of a free gift is based on a misunderstanding. A gift that does nothing to enhance solidarity is a contradiction. According to Marcel Mauss that is what is wrong with the free gift.
Charity is meant to be a free gift, a voluntary, unrequited surrender of resources. Though we laud charity as a Christian virtue we know that it wounds. The whole idea of a free gift is based on a misunderstanding. A gift that does nothing to enhance solidarity is a contradiction. According to Marcel Mauss that is what is wrong with the free gift.