Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xi, 210 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

1. "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"--Provided by publisher.
2. "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"--Provided by publisher.

Subject

1. Ceremonial exchange
2. Gifts > Europe > History
3. Anthropology > Philosophy

Contents

1. The crisis of the gift: Warren Hastings and his critics -- Liberalism, self-interest, and the gift -- The selfless 'savage': theories of primitive communism -- Anthropologists and the power of the gift: Boas, Thurnwald, Malinowski -- Marcel Mauss and the globalized gift.

Call number

1. JFE 11-547

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-204) and index.

Author

1. Liebersohn, Harry.

Title

1. The return of the gift : European history of a global idea / Harry Liebersohn.

Imprint

1. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-204) and index.

LCCN

1. 2010031319

ISBN

1. 9781107002180 (hardback)
2. 1107002184 (hardback)

Research call number

1. JFE 11-547