Gift Exchange
"It is the most ancient system of economy and law that we can find or of which we can conceive." (pg. 70) This quote, from Marcel Mauss' The Gift, describes the system of 'total services,' and how it formed the basis of gift exchange. Gifts have many different meanings behind them. Now days, we give gifts as a tradition for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries and so on. Yet, in the times of the Scandinavian civilization, among others, gift exchange was the way their economy was ran. Even though the gift exchange economy worked for these civilizations, it is not a sufficient way to run an economy. Gift exchange took place just how exchanges and contracts are made today. The giving and receiving of these exchanges are obligatory. The obligations of exchange were made between, as Mauss put it in The Gift, the contracting parties were legal entities; clans, tribes, and families. (The Gift pg. 5) What they exchanged, primarily, were "acts of politeness," as Mauss wrote it. (The Gift pg. 5) These were forms of banquets, rituals, women, children, dances, and festivals. These came to be a form of gifts and presents to the other families or clans. Now that this economy has been partly explained, we must go on to its feature
Mauss' general rules of gift exchange are as follows: the gift must always be returned; if it is not returned immediately, it would show a level of sophistication; gifts were given in exchange for prestige. To reject a gift had its consequences. (lecture notes) The people, or families, were expected to give away the gift they were given. For example, if the gift was hand-made. Within gift exchange, there is prestige given for the gifts you present, and there holds a type of hierarchy. Distribution was fair between the families, and when one needed help, the others were there for mutual aid. The prestige of the gift depends on how difficult it was to obtain. To give a wonderful gift, one must be modest in giving it. Within the gift exchange economy, prestige allows others to look at you with knowing you are knowledgeable. The gift is the foundation to the social contract, and therefore a risk to refusing it. Overall, the idea of gift exchange may have been a way to run an economy for these people at this time, but it certainly does not seem to hold much purpose. The most important feature within the gift exchange economy would be the obligation to give and receive. The hunting and gathering economic system provided everyone to be equal. The natural resources were available for anyone to use as needed. To refuse a gift that is given to you is tantamount as a call to war.
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Acceptance Essays
