The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic SOcieties (Routledge Classics)
by Marcel Mauss

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Book Reviews of The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic SOcieties (Routledge Classics)

Book Review: The reason for exchange is the hau, the spirit of the donor
Summary: 5 Stars

Mauss saw exchange and reciprocation as the basis of human society. His ideas threaten methodological individualism and the idea of the free gift. Mauss does this by attempting to detract the reader from believing a gift should be free and pure.

"What force is there in the thing given which compels the recipient to make a return"? Mauss is unable to offer a convincing reason and does not make clear in his text, whether reciprocation is at the wish of the donor or recipient. Mauss also sees that the donor gives not only the thing given but part of himself. The hau is that force by being a "Constant exchange of a spiritual matter". The hau is the spirit of the donor of the gift, so that even as it seeks to return to its origin unless replaced, it could give the donor a restraint over the recipient.

Malinowski saw Mauss' The Gift as the most influential essay in the whole of Anthropology. The majority of Anthropologists cannot agree on what Mauss says even though it is considered the best example relating to the production and consumption in archaic societies.

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