The Return of the Gift: European History of a Global Idea (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781107002180)

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.

Author: Harry Liebersohn
ISBN-10: 1107002184
ISBN-13: 9781107002180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 12/06/2010
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.97lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.30w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2011