The Return of the Gift
European History of a Global Idea
Nonfiction, History, World History, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
| Author: | Harry Liebersohn | ISBN: | 9780511853500 |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press | Publication: | December 6, 2010 |
| Imprint: | Cambridge University Press | Language: | English |
| Author: | Harry Liebersohn |
| ISBN: | 9780511853500 |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Publication: | December 6, 2010 |
| Imprint: | Cambridge University Press |
| Language: | English |
This book is a history of European interpretations of the gift from the mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Reciprocal gift exchange, pervasive in traditional European society, disappeared from the discourse of nineteenth-century social theory only to return as a major theme in twentieth-century anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy and literary studies. Modern anthropologists encountered gift exchange in Oceania and the Pacific Northwest and returned the idea to European social thought; Marcel Mauss synthesized their insights with his own readings from remote times and places in his famous 1925 essay on the gift, the starting-point for subsequent discussion. The Return of the Gift demonstrates how European intellectual history can gain fresh significance from global contexts.
This book is a history of European interpretations of the gift from the mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Reciprocal gift exchange, pervasive in traditional European society, disappeared from the discourse of nineteenth-century social theory only to return as a major theme in twentieth-century anthropology, sociology, history, philosophy and literary studies. Modern anthropologists encountered gift exchange in Oceania and the Pacific Northwest and returned the idea to European social thought; Marcel Mauss synthesized their insights with his own readings from remote times and places in his famous 1925 essay on the gift, the starting-point for subsequent discussion. The Return of the Gift demonstrates how European intellectual history can gain fresh significance from global contexts.
