I have studied Social- and Cultural Anthropology, and started watching videos about Mauss' gift today, because I had a great "Christmas idea" for someone I want to keep in my life and who also studied the same area 😅 Anyways, thanks for this great great explanation. This is probably one of the best "classes" I have experienced. I wish I would have had you as a lecturer. I am inspired!
What a fantastic lecture, Dan! This is easily the best exegesis of Mauss' 'The Gift' I've come across. Thanks for this! It's a true gift! I promise to do something worthy with what I've learned here in my own work. Take care!
I loved the "not your god all other gods, yours is real" part :Dd, but other than that, great lecture and nice introduction to anthropology as a whole in my opinion
The left side or left hand etymologically is also related to sin, and then sinister (left is sinistra/sinister in Latin). A very interesting summary, thank you!
You are welcome. I recently thought of Hertz's interpretation of "right" as the fundamental symbolic coding of power when viewing Orthodox crosses, especially Russian crosses. All kinds of interesting folk interpretations for the third crossbeam at the bottom, apparently a footrest, that always slants upward to the right, toward salvation.
I was looking for a lecture to give an overview of Mauss so that I can better understand Baudrillard. This definitely did the job, as you have a gift (sorry) for pedagogy, so thank you very much for this!
Starting to read the Gift and this REALLY helps me a lot! But I'm still confused about Hau or Mana. Can it be treated simply as a kind of social connection formed by the exchange of gifts, or is there more underlying ? How to explain the close relationship between a human and his own possession if Hau is something social?
Hi Dan, thank you for this meaningful explanation of the book! I really hope to see my comment, because I am going to present the first two chapters of the book as a part of my master degree. If you would have to tell which are the most important aspects from those part, which would they be? I am already sure that I will talk about "the hau" as it is very central to Mauss's thoughts, but I am not sure for the rest. Thank you!
Sorry not to have responded sooner -- the skeleton key really is the "hau," the notion of gifts as shuttles, and the three moral obligations of gifts (give, receive, worthy return). The book is essentially a sustained analysis of the ins and outs of these concepts. Dan
There needs to be a discussion of how gift-giving in modern western society works; are we to assume that the same kind of solidarity formation occurs? The notion of a gift seems to be too concrete: are gifts also services? What kinds of services? The distinction between small market and big market, which may have been adopted by Lacan's objet a and Big Other, is unclear. Small market commodities or things as gifts seem straightforward. But, big market gifts like rituals and sacrifices are not obvious. How does this translate into modern society? There is also a problem with the absolutization of the sacred and profane, the right and the left, the public and private because today these realms or terms are highly relativized and interpenetrating. This schematic or framework may have been true and may have been the format for many rituals, but how does this impact us today - we don't really believe in these superstitions and anthropomorphisms.
Hello Fred, Here is a link to the article I reference regarding the two types of markets: sacred (which includes all gift exchange systems) and profane (commodities): journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0896920515620476. The ending sections of Mauss's The Gift (see also Durkheim's Division of Labor) points toward ongoing relevance of gift economies within modern capitalism, especially in the regions of alms-giving, social welfare, and social insurance. No question that modern societies tend toward "organization" and functional divisions along industry/vocational lines and these organs may well serve as the basis for systems of prestation, mutual aid, and social insurance. If we were in seminar together, I would suggest that we read and discuss Durkheim's preface to the second edition of the Division of Labor (written about 1902) where he points toward a corporatist form of social organization, whereby "occupational groups" form part-societies that generate moral cohesion, social discipline, mutual assistance, and political organization. The big questions that Worrell and I address in the linked article regard the ongoing significance of moral objects (like gifts, totems, gods, trophies) after capitalism, because even if commodities can down-shift to mere use values, the social-moral dimension will remain if anything like societies continue to exist.
@@socialtheory You publish at Sage which is a paywall. But, I notice that you have generated a large response of critics. Are your articles found anywhere else?
Excellent presentation, I have a much better understanding of the NW Coast Potlatch after listening to your lecture notes on Mauss’s “the Gift”. 31:27 The shuttle is the social relations that are bonded together. The bumper stickers😂 so good.
![Sociological Theory: A Skeleton Key to Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle (1967), [© Dan Krier]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EpFyQEL-3tM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Sociological Theory: A Skeleton Key to Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle (1967), [© Dan Krier]](/img/tr.png)
We're studying "The Gift" in anthropology right now. This video was a great over view before diving in to the book
Thank you for this lecture! Love the way you explained everything! Helped me understand Mauss' work better for my thesis paper!
Brilliant explanation of Mauss' Gift - thank you Dan!
I have studied Social- and Cultural Anthropology, and started watching videos about Mauss' gift today, because I had a great "Christmas idea" for someone I want to keep in my life and who also studied the same area 😅 Anyways, thanks for this great great explanation. This is probably one of the best "classes" I have experienced. I wish I would have had you as a lecturer. I am inspired!
What a fantastic lecture, Dan! This is easily the best exegesis of Mauss' 'The Gift' I've come across. Thanks for this! It's a true gift! I promise to do something worthy with what I've learned here in my own work. Take care!
Glad you found the recording useful. The Gift conveys large chunks of social theory in an astonishingly short form.
"she did not return the gift, she has now DIED" hahahhahaah
Yes, the spirit of the gift sought vengeance upon her.
I loved the "not your god all other gods, yours is real" part :Dd, but other than that, great lecture and nice introduction to anthropology as a whole in my opinion
The left side or left hand etymologically is also related to sin, and then sinister (left is sinistra/sinister in Latin). A very interesting summary, thank you!
You are welcome. I recently thought of Hertz's interpretation of "right" as the fundamental symbolic coding of power when viewing Orthodox crosses, especially Russian crosses. All kinds of interesting folk interpretations for the third crossbeam at the bottom, apparently a footrest, that always slants upward to the right, toward salvation.
Thank you so much, great work.
You're very welcome!
I was looking for a lecture to give an overview of Mauss so that I can better understand Baudrillard. This definitely did the job, as you have a gift (sorry) for pedagogy, so thank you very much for this!
You're welcome! If you are interested, I recorded a lecture series on Baudrillard about a year ago: ua-cam.com/video/15Q-9KyjpwE/v-deo.html
Starting to read the Gift and this REALLY helps me a lot! But I'm still confused about Hau or Mana. Can it be treated simply as a kind of social connection formed by the exchange of gifts, or is there more underlying ? How to explain the close relationship between a human and his own possession if Hau is something social?
Hi Dan, thank you for this meaningful explanation of the book! I really hope to see my comment, because I am going to present the first two chapters of the book as a part of my master degree. If you would have to tell which are the most important aspects from those part, which would they be? I am already sure that I will talk about "the hau" as it is very central to Mauss's thoughts, but I am not sure for the rest.
Thank you!
Sorry not to have responded sooner -- the skeleton key really is the "hau," the notion of gifts as shuttles, and the three moral obligations of gifts (give, receive, worthy return). The book is essentially a sustained analysis of the ins and outs of these concepts. Dan
Incredibly useful. Thank you
Great explanation. What pen are you using?
I usually take notes with a trusty old Pelikan that has been dropped and abused more times than I can count.
Do you consider the Caritas in veritate encyclical by pope Benedict XVI as an important contribution in the area of gift economy?
There needs to be a discussion of how gift-giving in modern western society works; are we to assume that the same kind of solidarity formation occurs? The notion of a gift seems to be too concrete: are gifts also services? What kinds of services? The distinction between small market and big market, which may have been adopted by Lacan's objet a and Big Other, is unclear. Small market commodities or things as gifts seem straightforward. But, big market gifts like rituals and sacrifices are not obvious. How does this translate into modern society?
There is also a problem with the absolutization of the sacred and profane, the right and the left, the public and private because today these realms or terms are highly relativized and interpenetrating. This schematic or framework may have been true and may have been the format for many rituals, but how does this impact us today - we don't really believe in these superstitions and anthropomorphisms.
Hello Fred, Here is a link to the article I reference regarding the two types of markets: sacred (which includes all gift exchange systems) and profane (commodities): journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0896920515620476. The ending sections of Mauss's The Gift (see also Durkheim's Division of Labor) points toward ongoing relevance of gift economies within modern capitalism, especially in the regions of alms-giving, social welfare, and social insurance. No question that modern societies tend toward "organization" and functional divisions along industry/vocational lines and these organs may well serve as the basis for systems of prestation, mutual aid, and social insurance. If we were in seminar together, I would suggest that we read and discuss Durkheim's preface to the second edition of the Division of Labor (written about 1902) where he points toward a corporatist form of social organization, whereby "occupational groups" form part-societies that generate moral cohesion, social discipline, mutual assistance, and political organization. The big questions that Worrell and I address in the linked article regard the ongoing significance of moral objects (like gifts, totems, gods, trophies) after capitalism, because even if commodities can down-shift to mere use values, the social-moral dimension will remain if anything like societies continue to exist.
@@socialtheory You publish at Sage which is a paywall. But, I notice that you have generated a large response of critics. Are your articles found anywhere else?
@@socialtheory How does Durkheim’s ‘social corporate organization’ or structuralism organize mate selection?
Excellent presentation, I have a much better understanding of the NW Coast Potlatch after listening to your lecture notes on Mauss’s “the Gift”. 31:27 The shuttle is the social relations that are bonded together. The bumper stickers😂 so good.
Helped me!
Many thanks!
Thanks
I am in love with you