A sociologia de Marcel Mauss: Dádiva, simbolismo e associação

• Main Author: Paulo Henrique Martins
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2005-12-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: Marcel Mauss; gift; sociology; solidarity; social solidarity; social cooperation
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/954

Marcel Mauss is better know as an anthropologist and ethnologist. Many are surprised to learn that he has also given a relevant contribution to sociology, having been one of the major figures, along with Durkheim, behind the journal Année Sociologique, as well as the major systematizer of the theory of the gift. This theory is being recovered as an interpretative model that has great relevance for reflecting on the foundations of solidarity and alliance in contemporary societies. One of Mauss’s central contributions to sociology was to demonstrate that the value of things cannot exceed the value of the relationship, and that symbolism is fundamental for social life. He came to this view through the realization that the modes of exchange in archaic societies are not just things of the past, but have a fundamental importance for the understanding of modern society.