Culture · 6 pages · 12 min
How gift economies differ from prices
A price can close a deal between strangers, and a gift leaves a relation open.
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From the opening
In a price exchange the amount is stated, the payment matches it, and the deal can end, even between people who will never meet again. In a gift economy the transfer is part of an ongoing relation, and the return is typically delayed, inexact, and not calculated as a posted price. The opening covers prices discharge a stated equivalence, gifts delay an inexact return, and barter can still be a closing.
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Inside
- Prices discharge a stated equivalence
- Gifts delay an inexact return
- Barter can still be a closing
- Obligation is not the same as tenderness
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Mauss on the obligations to give, receive, and reciprocate
- Malinowski's Kula ring of circulating valuables