The Enigma of the Gift

The Enigma of the Gift
Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages : 265
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780226300450
ISBN-13 : 0226300455
Rating : 4/5 (50 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Enigma of the Gift by : Maurice Godelier

Download or read book The Enigma of the Gift written by Maurice Godelier and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999-02-03 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we think of giving gifts, we think of exchanging objects that carry with them economic or symbolic value. But is every valuable thing a potentially exchangeable item, whose value can be transferred? In The Enigma of the Gift, the distinguished French anthropologist Maurice Godelier reassesses the significance of gifts in social life by focusing on sacred objects, which are never exchanged despite the value they possess. Beginning with an analysis of the seminal work of Marcel Mauss and Claude Lévi-Strass, and drawing on his own fieldwork in Melanesia, Godelier argues that traditional theories are flawed because they consider only exchangeable gifts. By explaining gift-giving in terms of sacred objects and the authoritative conferral of power associated with them, Godelier challenges both recent and traditional theories of gift-giving, provocatively refreshing a traditional debate. Elegantly translated by Nora Scott, The Enigma of the Gift is at once a major theoretical contribution and an essential guide to the history of the theory of the gift.


The Enigma of the Gift Related Books

The Enigma of the Gift
Language: en
Pages: 265
Authors: Maurice Godelier
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 1999-02-03 - Publisher: University of Chicago Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

When we think of giving gifts, we think of exchanging objects that carry with them economic or symbolic value. But is every valuable thing a potentially exchang
The Enigma of Gift and Sacrifice
Language: en
Pages: 0
Authors: Edith Wyschogrod
Categories: PHILOSOPHY
Type: BOOK - Published: 2002 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What does it mean to give a "gift"? In this timely collection, distinguished anthropologists--Maurice Godelier, George Marcus, Stephen Tyler--and philosophers--
The Enigma of Clarence Thomas
Language: en
Pages: 185
Authors: Corey Robin
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-09-24 - Publisher: Metropolitan Books

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas is a groundbreaking revisionist take on the Supreme Court justice everyone knows about but no one knows. “One of the marvels of
The Enigma of Reason
Language: en
Pages: 405
Authors: Hugo Mercier
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-04-17 - Publisher: Harvard University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Brilliant...Timely and necessary.” —Financial Times “Especially timely as we struggle to make sense of how it is that individuals and communities persi
Free, Fair, and Alive
Language: en
Pages: 370
Authors: David Bollier
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-09-03 - Publisher: New Society Publishers

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The power of the commons as a free, fair system of provisioning and governance beyond capitalism, socialism, and other -isms. From co-housing and agroecology to