Donating is a market (of debt)

Starting out from a rereading of Marcel Mauss’s groundbreaking study “The Gift” (1924) and its successive reworkings by Levi-Strauss and Bourdieu, and drawing on fieldwork from Africa, this paper proposes another interpretation of the phenomenon of gift-giving as a central modality for the circulati...

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Main Author: Alain Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut Veolia Environnement 2012-06-01
Series:Field Actions Science Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/1598
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spelling doaj-ff7b9a6c07a84d498f727a23db892c7b2020-11-25T01:33:16ZengInstitut Veolia EnvironnementField Actions Science Reports1867-139X1867-85212012-06-01Donating is a market (of debt)Alain MarieStarting out from a rereading of Marcel Mauss’s groundbreaking study “The Gift” (1924) and its successive reworkings by Levi-Strauss and Bourdieu, and drawing on fieldwork from Africa, this paper proposes another interpretation of the phenomenon of gift-giving as a central modality for the circulation of goods and wealth in community-based societies. Hitherto, most explanations have retained a theoretical core according to which any “generous” exchange – being subject to the obligation to give, to receive and ultimately to reciprocate the gift – could only be governed by a non-economic logic (or, at least, one that negates its utilitarian dimension): a logic that symbolizes and reproduces social bonds, signs of power and prestige, and the relationship between men and their gods. Here, the analysis picks up the problem by taking a simple observation: community-based societies are mutual funds. The exchange of gift and deferred counter-gift are the functional equivalent of modern systems of insurance, social security and mutual credit schemes. They are thus subject to a logic of debt, which derives its strength from its economic utility and from the constraining power of the moral obligation of reciprocity that binds together creditors and debtors (all of whom are keenly aware of their personal interests!). The community is therefore a debt market, regulated by the constant flow of their transactions. Today, however, rising inequalities are causing that market to dry up. The time has come for the predatory state and its oligarchies to pay their debts toward the poor, whose community-based systems of solidarity can no longer provide them with effective protection.http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/1598debtGiftMarcel Mauss
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Alain Marie
spellingShingle Alain Marie
Donating is a market (of debt)
Field Actions Science Reports
debt
Gift
Marcel Mauss
author_facet Alain Marie
author_sort Alain Marie
title Donating is a market (of debt)
title_short Donating is a market (of debt)
title_full Donating is a market (of debt)
title_fullStr Donating is a market (of debt)
title_full_unstemmed Donating is a market (of debt)
title_sort donating is a market (of debt)
publisher Institut Veolia Environnement
series Field Actions Science Reports
issn 1867-139X
1867-8521
publishDate 2012-06-01
description Starting out from a rereading of Marcel Mauss’s groundbreaking study “The Gift” (1924) and its successive reworkings by Levi-Strauss and Bourdieu, and drawing on fieldwork from Africa, this paper proposes another interpretation of the phenomenon of gift-giving as a central modality for the circulation of goods and wealth in community-based societies. Hitherto, most explanations have retained a theoretical core according to which any “generous” exchange – being subject to the obligation to give, to receive and ultimately to reciprocate the gift – could only be governed by a non-economic logic (or, at least, one that negates its utilitarian dimension): a logic that symbolizes and reproduces social bonds, signs of power and prestige, and the relationship between men and their gods. Here, the analysis picks up the problem by taking a simple observation: community-based societies are mutual funds. The exchange of gift and deferred counter-gift are the functional equivalent of modern systems of insurance, social security and mutual credit schemes. They are thus subject to a logic of debt, which derives its strength from its economic utility and from the constraining power of the moral obligation of reciprocity that binds together creditors and debtors (all of whom are keenly aware of their personal interests!). The community is therefore a debt market, regulated by the constant flow of their transactions. Today, however, rising inequalities are causing that market to dry up. The time has come for the predatory state and its oligarchies to pay their debts toward the poor, whose community-based systems of solidarity can no longer provide them with effective protection.
topic debt
Gift
Marcel Mauss
url http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/1598
work_keys_str_mv AT alainmarie donatingisamarketofdebt
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