A brilliant example of the comparative method, ?The Gift? presents the first systematic study of the custom--widespread in primitive societies from ancient Rome to present-day Melanesia--of exchanging gifts. The gift is a perfect example of what Mauss calls a total social phenomenon, since it involves legal, economic, moral, religious, aesthetic, and other dimensions. He sees the gift exchange as related to individuals and groups as much as to the objects themselves, and his analysis calls into question the social conventions and economic systems that had been taken for granted...
A brilliant example of the comparative method, ?The Gift? presents the first systematic study of the custom--widespread in primitive socie...
This brilliant and original book sets out to dismantle the idea that movements, crises and other phenomena produced in society must be explained by exclusively social causes, without recourse to psychological explanations.
The author argues that we should reassess the significance of psychological causes in human affairs. Whilst psychological causes are undoubtedly distinct from social causes, all social phenomena are events or facts brought about by human beings: it is their passions which stimulate their great political, religious and cultural creations. He discusses the work of...
This brilliant and original book sets out to dismantle the idea that movements, crises and other phenomena produced in society must be explained by ex...
