Books by Marcel Mauss

When first published, The Gift served as nothing less than an onslaught on contemporary political theory. This edition confirms the continuing relevance of Mauss's highly original perspective.

The Gift is a short book by the French sociologist Marcel Mauss that is the foundation of social theories of reciprocity and gift exchange.Mauss's original piece was entitled Essai sur le don. Forme et raison de l'échange dans les sociétés archaïques ("An essay on the gift: the form and reason of exchange in archaic societies") and was originally published in L'Année Sociologique in 1925. The essay was later republished in French in 1950 and translated into English in 1954 by Ian Cunnison, in 1990 by W. D. Halls, and in 2016 by Jane I. Guyer. Mauss's essay focuses on the way that the exchange of objects between groups builds relationships between humans.It analyzes the economic practices of various so-called archaic societies and finds that they have a common central practice centered on reciprocal exchange. In them, he finds evidence contrary to the presumptions of modern Western societies about the history and nature of exchange. 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 but social solidarity because "the gift" pervades all aspects of the society. 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, 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 so doing, 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. (wikipedia.org)

"Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo" was one of the first anthropological texts that adopted a sociological approach to the analysis of a single society.

Marcel Mauss famous "Essay on the Gift" has now returned to its original context. For the first time, this masterpiece essential reading for every student of anthorpology can be read in an updated and annotated English translation alongside the profound works that framed its first publication in the 1923 24 issue of the journal "L Annee Sociologique." Included here are Mauss memorial account of the work of colleagues lost during World War I, and Mauss scholarly reviews of influential works by his contemporaries (Boas, Frazer, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, and others). Now read in the context of its co-publications, the "Essay on the Gift "reveals a complementary whole, a genre of generosity both personal and political: Mauss honor and respect for his fallen colleagues; his aspiration for modern (post-war) society s recuperation of the gift as a mode of repair; and his careful, yet critical, reading of the work of his contemporaries. It was Mauss hope that from this publication, Another seed will fall and germinate. Indeed, there is probably no other work in the history of anthropology that has germinated so great an intellectual flowering. This new translation by anthropologist Jane Guyer, with a critical foreword by anthropologists Jonathan Parry and Maurice Bloch, is certain to become the standard English reference for Marcel Mauss greatest essay setting the scence for a whole new generation of readers to study the gift alongside the erudition, political commitment, and generous collegial exchange that first nourished it into life and growth."

Offers a fascinating snapshot of magic throughout various cultures as well as deep sociological and religious insights still very much relevant today.