Mauss's essay focuses on the way that the exchange of objects between groups builds relationships between humans. It analyzes the economic practices of archaic societies and finds that they have a common as well as a main practice centered on reciprocal exchange. In different archaic and
indigenous societies, he finds evidence contrary to the presumptions of modern Western societies about the history and nature of exchange which assert that it is a relatively newer concept and practice. He shows that early exchange systems center around the obligations to give, to receive, and, most importantly, to
reciprocate. They occur between groups, not only individuals, and they are a crucial part of “total phenomena” that work to build not just wealth and alliances marked by economic wants but social solidarity because “the gift” pervades all aspects of the society. Mauss calls it, therefore, a "total
social fact". He uses a
comparative method, drawing upon published secondary scholarship on peoples from around the world, but especially the
Pacific Northwest (especially
potlatch). After examining the reciprocal gift-giving practices of each society, he finds in them common features, despite some variation. From the disparate evidence, he builds a case for a foundation to human society based on collective (vs. individual) exchange practices. In doing so, he refutes the English tradition of
liberal thought, such as
utilitarianism, as distortions of human exchange practices. He concludes by speculating that social welfare programs may be recovering some aspects of the morality of the gift within
modern market economies.
Key Concepts • Total social fact - a practice that is highly integrated across many or all spheres of society, including economic, legal, political, and religious among others; Mauss builds on
Durkheim's concept of
social fact. • Total prestation - an example of a total social fact; the system of obligatory gift-giving and reciprocal exchange that is integrated across various aspects of a society. •
Reciprocity - the principle that exchanges create a mutual obligation or bond that creates a continuous cycle of giving and returning gifts. •
Hau - the force that compels the recipient of a gift to reciprocate and which desires to return to its origins (Maori) •
Taonga - an exchange item imbued with
hau (Maori) •
Mana - the broader social status and standing that is constantly negotiated and validated through the process of total prestation (Polynesia)
The Method In
The Gift, Mauss draws on ethnographic data from around the world. Mauss himself was an ethnologist, or someone who synthesizes and theorizes about ethnographic work that is based on first-hand fieldwork. Therefore, he did not collect data in the field himself, but rather formed his conclusions based on the reports from the fieldwork of other anthropologists. Mauss describes the methodological approach he practices in
The Gift as "the method of exact comparison" (p. 5).
Franz Boas describing the
potlatch in the Pacific Northwest of the United States; and
A. R. Radcliff-Brown's work on the
Andaman Islanders (though he refers to Brown instead of Radcliff-Brown since this was prior to the hyphenation of Radcliff-Brown's name). In addition to the central examples noted above, Mauss also incorporated data from Europe in the form of Scandinavian stories, Roman law, Germanic law, and Celtic law; from Hindu Vedas and Brahmanic code; and from Chinese law. By incorporating examples from dispersed geographies, Mauss demonstrated the ubiquity (and applicability) of the ideas laid out in
The Gift. == Influence ==