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Transcript of Henaff-Anthrop of Gift Exchanges& Recogn
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Marcel Hnaff
University of California, San Diego
[Lecture presented at Berkely May 2, 2006 and Brown May 3, 2010; to appear in 2012]
Anthropology of Gift Exchange and Social Recognition
At the beginning of the 80s we witnessed in all developed countries a type of
debate that is still ongoing and that can be summarized as follows: beyond social
justice in the realm of legal equality, income, and labor rights lies another claim that is
no less urgent or fundamental : that of the recognition of the equal dignity to be
granted to every type of social or cultural difference as well as to every type of
marginalized or ignored identity, whether it is related to ethnic origin, sexual
orientation, handicap, or occupation. This issue is familiar to many scholars; we know
how it has particularly developed in the United States. I do not intend to enter into this
considerable and complex debate in this paper. I would just like to note that some
significant philosophers have participated in it in various ways, such as the Canadian
Charles Taylor in hisMulticulturalism and Politics of Recognitionor the German Axel
Honneth in The Struggle for Recognition. The latter elaborated his position based on an
original reading of Hegels early writings; at the core of his book is a proposal to
identify three levels or spheres of claims to recognition.1. that of self-respect in the
legal sphere; 2. that ofself-esteemin the socio-ethical sphere; 3. that ofself-confidence
in relationships of love or friendship. What I find problematic in this type of
presentation is the fact that it is mainly situated from the perspective of the Self. I do
not dispute that this is unavoidable if one is to analyze the problem of recognition as a
subjective claim. But the very concept of recognition precisely implies inter-subjective
relationships. From the outset the response of the other is presupposed in the demand
for recognition. Ricur certainly chose a better approach to this precondition in his last
book, Course of Recognition. But in my opinion we need to go further. We must break
with the theoretical framework provided by HegelsPhenomenology of Spirit, in whichthe well-known section on the struggle for recognition between Master and Servant is
found ; this struggle is a dead-end, since the looser, having ceased to be the equal of
the winner, can no longer recognize him. It seems to me that a different answer to this
dilemma can be proposed; it can be found in Marcel Mauss The Gift--even though
Mauss did not directly deal with this question.
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[1] -Rereading Mauss The Gift
There is something remarkable about the theoretical and literary fate ofthis essay,
which was published in 1924 and did not have a significant impact on anthropological
research, except for scholars who were very close to Mauss himself. Instead, the best
attention it received came from readers who were at the margins of Academia, such as
the group of intellectuals associated with the Collge de Sociologie. Among them,
Bataille presented the most creative reading of Mauss essay by placing the potlatch at
the core of his reflection inLa part maudite. It was only with the publication of Lvi-
Strauss The Elementary Structures of Kinship in 1949 that The Giftreceived its true
scholarly consecration since, as Lvi-Strauss explained, the whole logic of kinship
systems as founded on the exogamic alliance reveals above all a principle of
reciprocity between human groups; exogamy constitutes the rule of gift-giving par
excellence, Lvi-Strauss claimed; the prohibition of incest expresses this requirement,
as S. de Beauvoir immediately understood in her laudatory review published in 1949.
The following year [1950], Lvi-Strauss himself explained in his Introduction to the
work of Marcel Mauss that he had read Mauss essay with extraordinary excitement
and with the feeling that a new intellectual continent was opening up. The debate
surrounding this work was only beginning. Anthropologists, classicists, economists,
philosophers, and other essayists have taken part in this debate. Outside of France, The
Gift, which was for some time little known by scholars, was since translated into many
languages [English, 1967 & 1990]. In France an intellectual movement supported by a
journal whose acronym is Mauss name has developed starting in the 80s. But there is
no question that Derrida deserves credit for bringing a new philosophical dimension to
this debate in seminars from the late 70s, which were taken up again and developed in
chapter 2 of Donner le temps, published in 1991 [Giving time, U of Chicago Press,
1992] . He discussed Mauss in a subtle manner. He also claimed that in the final
analysis Mauss had missed his point since, by emphasizing the requirement for
reciprocityhe reinstated gift-giving as part of self-interested exchange and therefore in
the commercial relationship with which he had sought to distance himself. The purpose
of this presentation is not to discuss Derridas positions in detail (they will be
mentioned again later) but to wonder whether his objection does not show a serious
misunderstanding of the very concept of reciprocity presented as tied to the idea of
self-interest and even profitable exchange. Derrida was not alone in suspecting this
kind of connivances -so did Bourdieu-. But to me the question seems to be a more
complex one. The very concept of gift-giving lends itself to this kind of confusions if it
is not first clarified and even better differentiated. The first urgent task is to present this
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clarification. We must understand the nature of this urgency; my purpose is not to
refine a project of lexical categorization but to understand what is at stake in the
ceremonial gift-giving Mauss discussed. He viewed it as a total social phenomenon.
What does this mean? Is this an extinct practice, since he called it archaic ? How
could it be total and have disappeared? My purpose in reexamining this issue from
new perspectives and by raising new questions is to show -or at least to point out in
this very short presentation- that the gift-giving Mauss discussed implies a conception
of reciprocity that has not only nothing to do with the notion of self-interest but defines
the very core of human relationships. Mauss himself did not clearly establish this
because he still interpreted gift-giving practices in terms of goods (even when these
goods are generously offered) whereas they must be interpreted in terms of symbols of
a commitment between partners. But what is the aim of this commitment? It seems to
me that answering this question requires going beyond Mauss. Here is my point: I
propose to show that this gift-giving relationship constitutes the fundamental gesture
or procedure of public recognition between human groups and that it is what
establishes them as uniquely human and capable of forming alliances and conventions,
thus constituting the very genesis of the political relationship, and from this we will be
able to understand the contemporary situation.
[2] - Clarifying the Concept :the Three Categories of Gift-Giving
When we reflect upon what it means to give we believe we can agree on a broad
definition that applies to every case and could be stated as, giving is providing a good
or service in a non self-interested manner, which means that no reciprocation is
guaranteed or expected. This definition seems perfectly reasonable, yet applying it to
every form of gift-giving can lead to the most serious confusions since ritual gift-
giving precisely includes the strict obligation to reciprocate the gift. We must therefore
acknowledge that the character of oblation (i.e. free offering) that is at the core of this
definition is not relevant in this case. The solution that has generally been chosen to
confront this problem has been to dismiss ritual gift-giving from the scope of this
definition, calling it archaic and suspecting that the requirement of reciprocity
involves the expectation of an advantage (or interest) that would be the damning
evidence for this archaic character. Doing so already performs a discrimination
between true gift-giving (which is supposed to have a character of oblation and be
unconditional) and its impure instantiations that can be identified by their difference
with the definition. In contrast to this approach, one could resort to casuistic
considerations on the amphibology of the word interest in order to associate it in a
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paradoxical way with the word gift so as to preserve this old-fashioned notion of
gift-giving. In my opinion, considering that several models of gift-giving exist and
that they are significantly different from each other is a more promising approach than
claiming to force a single mould onto overly diverse practices.
An effort of clarification is required. Let us start with a few convincing examples.
It is hard to see how the following could be placed under the same label: 1/. the
festivals and gifts that chiefs offer each other in turn in traditional societies; 2/ the
celebrations and presents that parents give to their children on the occasion of their
birthdays or that anyone offers to loved for their enjoyment; 3/ the donations given to
populations on the occasion of catastrophes. - These examples are significant: it can be
considered that they exemplify three main types of gift-giving: a./the first is generally
called archaic, a concept heavily loaded with debatable presuppositions; I prefer to
keep to descriptive criteria and call it ceremonial gift-giving; it is always described as
publicand reciprocal; b./the second can be said to begracious or oblatory ; it may or
may not be private, but it is primarily unilateral. c./the third can be called mutual aid
pertaining to either socialsolidarityor so-called philanthropic activity; it is viewed by
some as constituting the modern form of traditional gift-giving.
When a conceptsuch as that of gift-giving--applies to such different practices
and is open to such divergent argumentations, there is reason to believe that its
definition is imprecise or even confused and that the practices involved have not been
sufficiently described and categorized. Thus it is likely that the three examples given
above do not constitute a homogeneous class of objects.
- The first type is characterized by the obligation to reciprocate the gift that has
been received, as shown by ethnographic investigations; it therefore raises the issue of
reciprocity (which is certainly much more than a mere exchange of good manners). Its
lexical field is that of dosis/anti-dosis in Greek in which anti always indicates the
action in returnthat is called for by the initial action.
- The second type reveals a spontaneous generosity towards to those close to the
giver, which is viewed above all as a psychological or moral quality. Its lexical field is
that of kharis in Greek (one of the primary meanings of which is joy), that of
unilateral giving (there is no such thing as anti-kharis); this recalls the whole of the
theoretical field of Biblical Grace (hen, i.e. favor translated as kharis in the Septuagint,
a term also used by Paul), as well as the term Latin gratiafrom Seneca to Augustine,
and Medieval through Reformation theologies. -
- The third type as opposed to the second- expresses a much more social
dimension of generosity toward either close associates (friends or neighbors, between
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which reciprocity is desirable but not mandatory) or strangers (case in which returning
a gift would not make sense) : this would be the field of the philiaor philanthropia
discussed by Aristotle inNicomachean Ethic. It also encompasses various practices of
solidarity between close associates or members of a chosen community (such as a
religious congregation or a group of friends) and everything Weber described as
pertaining to a religious ethic of brotherhood [die religise Ethik der
Brderlichkeit].
At this point a crucial question must be dealt with : whereas forms of gift-giving
pertaining cases 2. and 3. are still common practice to this day, it is clear that
ceremonial gift-giving as a public form of exchange of presents between groups no
longer constitutes a predominant fact in modern societies. From this point of view
ritual gift-giving is a phenomenon of the past that barely survives in the form of
official gifts. This seems to legitimize the use of the term archaic and to explain the
temptation to identify traces of this practice in the two other forms of gift-giving that
are still occurring. I had the opportunity to show in a recent book1 that an entirely
different approach of ceremonial exchanges is possibleand perhaps required; it
amounts to understanding them above all as exchanges not of goods but of symbols,
more precisely as apublic procedure of reciprocal recognition between human groups.
This reading (the central elements of which I will now sum up) provides a starting
point making it possible to show that in any society that endows itself with a central
organizing authority -such as a city-state and a kingdom, in short every entity that we
now call a State- this public recognition is ensured by law and the whole of civic
institutions. This transformation makes it possible to articulate traditional gift-giving,
the law (as nomos), and the concept of public space.
[3] -Ceremonial Gift Exchange Is neither Economic nor Moral or Legal
What is at stake in the facts discussed by Mauss is the reinforcement of the bond
between the partners, the public prestige granted and gained, and the alliance established.
If we extend his conclusions, we can say that ritual giving is as alien to profitable
exchanges and contractual relationships as it is to charitable giving.
With respect to profitable exchanges, let us note that many observers have proposed an
economic interpretation of gift exchange as barter or trade. Boas considers potlatch as an
archaic form of lending with interest. Such interpretations are found even in the work of
1Hnaff, M. 2010. The Price of Truth. Gift, Money, Philosophy. Stanford, Standford University Press.
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theorists as scrupulous and well-informed as Max Weber and Karl Polanyi. Malinowski,
however, does not make this mistake: he emphasizes the difference between kula and
gimwali (also noticed by Mauss). Kula exchanges do presuppose the existence of an
economy: Trobriand islanders cannot live on gifts alone any more than we do. They
produce food and artifacts, and they must craft the precious objects they exchange. Like
everyone else they exchange ordinary goods for everyday uses. The termgift economycan
thus be entirely misleading if we fail to understand that ordinary economic activity is
subordinate to the central social fact, in which the life of the group is expressed and
transfigured. The nature of kulaexchange is not economic. Its essential function is to bond
different groups through the network of the partners in the exchange. The purpose of
celebrations is not for the partners to offer and gain consumer goods, but to give one
another tokens and public evidence of their intention to live together.
This does not entail that the nature of these ritual exchanges is moral. Their purpose is
not to demonstrate goodness or even solidarity. They do not amount to mutual support.
Ceremonial goods are not intended to help needy recipients survive. They are precious
goods valued as symbols of alliance, as tokens of the commitment of the giver. The
alliance established or renewed involves the public life of the group (as does exogamic
alliance, this most exemplary of exchanges). As such, it belongs to the political sphere. It
is not foremost a gesture of support. This exchange institutes an agreement and sanctions
trust. It may also express an attitude of compassion and solidarity in trials. To the extent
that these exchanges involve morality, it is in terms of the loyalty displayed and the honor
at stake in the alliance, not because of any generous intention. Unlike these collective
practices, charitable actions are admirable to the extent that they are discrete. In the same
way that philanthropy entails no compensation, charitable action entails no reply. The
gesture of ceremonial giving, on the contrary, must be publicand seen by all: it commits
the entire group and determines the prestige of the giver. Because its aim is alliance, it
implies a reply: reciprocation is expected. Alliance is necessarily reciprocal. The
commitment of one partner entails the commitment of the other. We must therefore ask:
are there several, fundamentally different types of giving?
Finally, ceremonial gift exchange is not a legal-type exchange in the sense of a
contractual relationship. In La Foi jure [1922] Georges Davy, a disciple of Mauss,
viewed potlatch as an archaic form of contract. Mauss disagreed. Although in The Gifthe
used the term contract, he did so in the broader sense of pact. In the strict sense, a
contractual obligation has a specific duration. It sets an accounting requirement with
respect to the amount and character of the objects exchanged, and it involves a
constraining legal commitment whose breach is subject to sanctions such as fines or prison
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terms. The aim of a contract is the strict equality and mutual benefit of the partners. A
contract formally bonds them as agents under the law, not as subjects committed in their
very being. Gift exchange, on the contrary, is viewed as obligatory only in the sense that it
involves prestige, honor, and the person of the giver, beyond any equalitarian calculus.
Gift exchange and contract are antithetical concepts.
[4] -Ceremonial Gift-Giving as a Pact of Recognition.
We must first reexamine the question of ceremonial gift-giving. Mauss was not the
first to show interest in this type of social phenomenon, which he also called archaic,
but he was the first who articulated it as a epistemological issue. Without dwelling on
this book which is probably familiar to most of us, I would like to very briefly mention
his main conclusions along with a few questions. 1. Mauss defined procedures of gift
exchanges as a total social phenomena, which means that they encompass everydimension of collective life such as religion, politics, economy, ethics, aesthetics, and
above all that they constitute the central fact around which everything else is
organized; hence this question: what has become of such central facts in modern
societies? Either they have disappeared or their purpose has survived in different
forms; if so, what are these forms? 2. Mauss showed that the gift-giving procedure
consists of three inseparable and mandatory steps: giving, accepting, and reciprocating
the gift. To him this mandatory character appeared as the most enigmatic. Mauss
documented it but did not explain it; is it possible to present a convincing interpretation
of this obligation ? 3. Mauss was clearly aware that this exchange in no way amounts
to trade: he even noted that the well-known kulacircuit of exchange of the Trobriand
Islands, in which precious goods are offered by both partners, coexists with a
profitable exchange calledgimwali, which is considered as the opposite of kula and is
conductedwith entirely different partners. Gift exchanges and commercial exchanges
coexist and belong to two very different realms; how can we understand that the
mandatory response to the gift that was received is not motivated by self-interest? 4.
The last important character Mauss emphasized was that through this exchange of
precious goods what is given is always oneself ; what is literally handed over to theother through the good that is offered is the self of the giver; hence the magic that
protects it. What is implied by this presence of the giver in the thing that is given? Is
this a superstition that should be ignored or the revelation of a relationship that is
specific to the third party constituted by the thing that is offered and absent from the
thing that is sold?
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It is clear that ceremonial gift-giving raises a set of questions that are specific to it
and radically distinguish it from the two other forms of gift-giving. Since it is
impossible to discuss the now considerable empirical collection of materials that has
been gathered for almost a century within the limited framework of this presentation, I
will just present a critical assessment indicating eight variables that can be drawn from
reading field investigations and make it possible to better identify the specificity of
ceremonial gift-giving: 1.goods exchanged: precious objects (or beings); festive foods;
2. procedures: well- established rituals accepted by the partners; 3. level of
communication : public; 4. effects caused or expected : a. strong bonds between givers
and receivers; b. prestige and rank gained; 5. type of choice : mandatory; 6. mode of
relationship: reciprocal; 7. attitude of exchange : generous rivalry ; 8. type of
involvement: personal.
Let us note that the two other types of gift-giving (type II, which I call gracious
and type III, which I call solidarity-based), only share one or two of these variables
with ceremonial gift-giving. It is therefore clear that discussing gift-giving in general
entails a serious epistemological risk. It is not possible to discuss gift-giving without
adding the adjective that specifies the realm in which it is practiced. It is clear that this
forces us to divide what has been called the gift paradigm into three parts or, better,
to acknowledge that there are at least three paradigms rather than a single one. They
can be described as different realms or orders in Pascals sense: each of them has its
own system of justification. Thus reciprocity, which is essential to ceremonial gift-
giving, is not relevant to gracious gift-giving but may or may not be valued within
solidarity-based gift-giving. Similarly, discretion -self-effacement of the giver- which
is often expected (and sometimes indispensable) in gracious gift-giving would make no
sense in ceremonial gift-giving, which is public by definition.
We must then present an entirely different interpretation of ceremonial gift-giving,
breaking even with Mauss. I already mentioned above the central argument of my
hypothesis: ceremonial gift-giving is primarly a procedure of public and reciprocal
recognition between groups within traditional societies. It still remains to determine
what this recognition means and why it occurs through such a procedure. A central
lesson is provided by investigations concerningfirst encounters. Numerous testimonies
have taught us that these encounters primarily take the form of reciprocal exchanges of
presents: the opening gifts. This may seem sensible and courteous to us. Our surprise
arises once these exchanges are presented as mandatorythe alternative being
conflict-- and once we realize that nowadays polite phrases and friendly attitudes are
sufficient for us. The whole question lies in these two previous observations. Nothing
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can better help us understand what is at stake than a short narrative reported by a
British anthropologist2who had heard it in the 70s from his New Guinean informer;
during the 1920s, the latter had witnessed the arrival of the first white man in his
village. It so happens that, according to local legends, the dead could return as light-
skinned cannibalistic ghosts. It was decided that a test would be performed to
determine whether or not this potentially dangerous stranger was a human being. He
was offered some pigs, and the white man, who was a well-informed Australian
administrator, offered them precious shells in return. Then, the informer concluded,
We decided that he was a human like us.3
It seems to me that this story can be viewed as an exemplary parable that can help
us understand the most general meaning of reciprocal, public, and ceremonial gift-
giving as well as its essential relationship with the phenomenon of recognition. The
opening gifts ritual is a procedure of reciprocal recognition in the triple sense of
identifying, accepting, and finally honoringothers. A first question must be raised at
this point: why does this recognition have to occur through exchanged goods? Other
questions arise: what is recognized in the other? What is made possible by this
recognition?
In order to answer these questions -and to increase our surprise- it seemed to me
that we had to move to an entirely different field and wonder whether or not other
animal societies, starting with those closest to us (apes), exhibit behaviors comparable
to these. What the most advanced research on this issue show us, especially those
regarding chimpanzees is that, 1/ mutual recognition as identificationoccurs through
vocal messages, smells, and above all coordinated sets of gestures and attitudes; 2/
recognition as acceptance takes place through postures and procedures of reciprocity
(such as attitudes of appeasement, mutual grooming, sharing of space), but never
through objects given as tokens and kept in exchange for others that are given either
immediately or later(which has nothing to do with the sharing of food among various
mammals or with the mating rituals of certain birds, reptiles, and insects). A. Smith
sensed this quite well : Nobody ever saw a dog make a fair and deliberate exchange of
one bone for another with another dog [1993: 21]. It seems that humans alone resort
to the procedure consisting of committing oneself by giving something of oneself as a
token and substitute of oneself. The fact that an agent vouches for himself in front of
other agents for the duration of a time period can be provisionally considered as
2. Andrew Strathern, The Rope of Moka. Cambridge, Cambridge U Press, 1971, p. xii.
3. He gave us shell valuables in return for pigs, and we decided he was a human like us, in
Strathern, op.cit. ibid.
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defining him as a Self. It is remarkable that this occurs through the mediation of a
thing, a third element that constitutes a token of himself. This recalls the classical
Greek and Roman procedure of thepactperformed through asym-bolon(derived from
ballein: to put; and syn: together), a piece of pottery broken in two, of which each
partner would keep one half that could fit the other as witness for the future that an
agreement had been made. According to this model4, reciprocal gift-giving is nothing
else than the originating gesture of reciprocal recognitionbetween humans, a gesture
that is found in no other living beings in that it is mediated by a thing, but a thing that
comes from oneself, stands for oneself, and bears witness to the commitment that was
made. Forming an alliance -a pact- means bringing together ones own self and the
strangeness of the other through a thing that comes from oneself and is desirable by the
other. This third party brings the two sides together: there is no alliance without an Ark
of the Covenant. The thing given binds the two parties primarily by bearing witness
that the bond has been accepted. This reciprocal recognition through the exchange of
something that specifically belongs to the group (or its representative) and is offered to
the other, is at the core of the exogamic relationship and illuminates the prohibition of
incest, is above all a positive imperative of reciprocity: one is a human being to the
extent that one moves outside of the natural group based on consanguinity by
recognizing and forming an alliance with the other. In order to be oneself, one must
recognize what one is not.
[5] - Understanding obligation and reciprocityThis is in short the new anthropological interpretation of ceremonial gift-giving
that I am proposing ; it obviously does not apply to the two other models of gift-giving,
namely unilateral gracious gift-giving and gift-giving out of solidarity5. Before we can
go forward we must understand how the concepts of symbol, convention, and alliance
are interconnected and how then those of reciprocity and obligation are related to them.
To say that there is an alliance -and in particular an exogamic alliance- means that
there is a pact and therefore an intentional recognition between Us and You
beyond a mere social self-regulation among groups. To say that this alliance brings
together what is not together -performs a sym-ballein- and belongs to the realm of
intentionality means that the encounter between two autonomous beings involves a
4.. It is no more than a model since thesymbolon rite is not in and of itself an exchange of gifts.
5. It also completely leaves aside another form of gift-giving that is not a socialpractice (and
therefore lies outside of my typology) but involves a philosophical decision: a view of being as a
gift (what I call the gift from nobody); for instance, J. L Marions analyses in Being Given, Stanford
U Press, 2002 [Orig.Etant donn, Paris, PUF, 1997]) belong to this category.
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decision to give oneself rules: establishing a convention amounts to engaging in these
rules (which is one of the primary purposes of rituals) and involving oneself : giving
oneself in the thing that guarantees the pact. This is made clear by the definition
presented by Ortigues, In general, symbols are the materials with which language
conventions, social pacts, and guarantees of mutual recognition between liberties are
constituted. Symbols are formative elements of a language considered relative to each
other as constituting a system of communication or alliance, a law of reciprocity
between subjects.6. What has been concluded through the opening gifts is extended
through time by relationships that rituals aim at stabilizing; but above all this is
accomplished through exogamic alliance, which indexes the agreement between
groups on the reproduction of life itself and connects it to the succession of
generations. From the moment the exchange of gifts as a gesture of alliance occurs, it
generates human groups that are regulated by a convention.
In order to better understand this, it may be useful to refer to the triadic relation
theory that was proposed by Peirce, for whom any relationship that implies two agents
and an object of exchange presupposes a norm of exchange; it is therefore not the mere
addition of two separable gestures such as, A gives object b to C and C receives B
from A; from the start and by definition the partners and the thing exchanged are, in
Peirces words, in relationship under a law 7
. Descombes was right to note8 that,
contrary to Russells claim -which reduced all exchanges to two dyadic gestures, A
gives B and C receives B- the gift-giving relationship is not the transfer of a good
from one partner to another but, as Peirce explained, a relationship between the
partners through the mediation of this good. To give is always to give something to
someone; this relation is inherent in all so-called trivalent verbs (such as to give, grant,
provide, bring, deliver, etc.). However, we must go further: ceremonial gift-giving
cannot be reduced to giving something to someone as Descombes seems to believe; to
deliver a good to someone in accordance with some rules instead defines the
contractual relationship (let us recall that to sellis also a trivalent verb). The gesture of
giving -especially ceremonial gift-giving- does not only generate a relationship ruled
by a law but from the start it is and does much more: it is an personalengagement
under a law. It consists of giving oneself to someone through the mediation of
something. In this case the third party represents the Self of the giver (Mauss was right
to emphasize this point) as a token and substitute of him/herself. In the case of
6E. Ortigues,Le Discours et le symbole, Paris, Aubier, 1962, p. 61.
7. C. S. Peirce, Collected Papers, T. I. paragr. 471, Cambridge, Mass. Harvard U Press, 1931-1958.
8. V. Descombes Les essais sur le don inLes Institutions du sens, Paris, Minuit, 1996 ; chap. 18.
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ceremonial gift-giving we must therefore consider a second level of triadic
relationship. There is a shift from the neutral fact of convention -the triadic structure-
to thepersonalgestureof commitment. However this is not sufficient: a third level of
this relationship must now be considered, since the commitment that ceremonial gift-
giving calls for requires the others response, i.e. the obligation of the gesture in return:
what is involved necessarily is therefore a gesture of reciprocity under a law . This
law is the obligation to return the gift. This is what Mauss found surprising; he
reported and documented it but admitted he had no way of explaining it. Introducing
the notion of interest in order to account for this reciprocity amounts to a serious
misunderstanding. What is the meaning of the obligationto respond in ceremonial gift-
giving? It is neither a physical necessity to react (as in the case of living organisms
responding to external stimuli) nor a truly legal obligation (which would provide for
sanctions as is the case when contracts are not abided by) or a moral requirement (in
the sense that it would be immoral not to respond). What we are dealing with is the
structure of a gameand an alternation principleanalogous to that found in any game
between partners and even more precisely in a duel. Entering the game entails having
to reply. Not to respond amounts to taking oneself out of the game. The obligation to
respond lies in this. One does not throw the ball back in order to be generous or
courteous or out of a contractual obligation but because the response is part of the
game, or rather of the system of accepted rules. The inseparable character of the three
terms of the triad concerns not only the relationship between the partners but also their
reciprocal action. The interplay of gift and counter-gift is a gesture of reply that
precisely matches the alternation of blows (in fact, the same partners involved in the
exchange of gifts are also responsible for vindicatory justice in case an offense was
committed). This reciprocity involves neither moral choice nor altruism or charity, but
only the requirement to reply that is specific to action among the living.
We may better understand it through as a fascinating episode of the Shatapatha
Brhamas(one of the oldest Vedic texts) teaches us. The first human being was called
Prajpati (Purusa in some other texts of the Veda) ; Prajpati was everything at the
same time : heaven and earth, air and water, and wind and fire; he was all the living
beings in the universe; he was the universe itself and he also was the first human; but
he was not able to draw a distinction between the various spirits he saw in the universe
and to separate the demons from the gods; therefore he offered them a feast of rich
food; some of them started eating everyone for himself, with gluttony, whereas the
others did something quite different: they took the food with their hands and presented
it to each others mouth. Prajpati then understood that the latter were the gods and
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were the ones that humans must admire and imitate. Let us call this the Prajpati test. If
indeed we consider the Gods' gesture more closely, we realize that it includes no such
thing as charity or even altruism: the Gods do not try to share the food; they do not
need it: the food is abundant and solidarity is not an issue in this case. What are they
doing, then? And why did Prajpati admire their gesture so much? We could--and even
must--answer that by offering food to each other the Gods want to affirm and confirm
the fact that they do exist for each other and that they want to express through the food
that they eat and share the necessity but also the pleasure of being together. The lesson
of wisdom conveyed by this tale tells us that we do not exist alone, that we are by
definition interrelated, and that our own existence is at stake in the very existence of
others; we are by definition constituted through this relation; to be human means to
recognize the fact of this foundational coexistence.
The relationship is agonistic from the start. But there is more to this: the game is
at the same time the pact that is offered and accepted through the goods exchanged9.
I propose to call this fundamental relationship of recognition political. Why ?Because
it is radically different from the social bond that exists in every animal society. The
alliance as an explicit gesture of acceptance through the choice of a token-symbol is
only in evidence in human reciprocal ceremonial gift-giving; it amounts from the start
to a public recognition of the other group and a commitment to coexist and collaborate,
in short to a convention ; this is precisely what Aristotle called apoliteia. The alliance
takes up and encompasses the social bond but it also transcends it by changing it into a
political bond, which is to say an intentional relationship of association. This is the
relationship that is unique to the human animal ; he/she is the zoon politikon in that
through the procedure of recognition he institutes a life under rules. The uniquely
human bond is political in that it is the unique bond between autonomous beings
capable of assigning themselves a law (not necessarily in an explicit manner). It is
therefore clear that an essential articulation exists between human order as reciprocal
public recognition and specifically political instituted order; as an institutional
procedure between groups, ceremonial gift-giving between participants in an alliance
constitutes the very emergence of apublic order-though not necessarily its permanent
historical form. This is what remains to be explained (at least shortly).
9. It can therefore be said that reciprocal ceremonial gift-giving confronts and resolves in a
particularly elegant way the prisoners dilemma (decision-making based on limited information or
involving uncertainty regarding others). One bets on trust and obtains it through a reply guaranteed
by the things given.
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Conclusion :Law, reciprocity and the three spheres of recognition
A first question immediately arises: how is this public reciprocal recognition,
which is performed through ritual exchanges of gifts in traditional societies, expressed
in societies with a central state system? The only possible answer seems to me to be
that this recognition is affirmed and guaranteed by law and by the whole of political
and legal institutions. The true heritage of ceremonial gift-giving will thus not be
found in the realm of the distribution or exchange of goods but in that of rights and
struggles concerning them. It is for historical anthropology to show how this
transformation occurred. This cannot be demonstrated in detail in this presentation.
However, we must recall that the ceremonial exchanges discussed above concern
societies in which the forms of authority are generally identified with the statuses
defined by kinship systems. For this very reason, public relationships between groups
primarily occur through matrimonial alliances. But from the moment an evolution
develops that leads to the emergence of a power entity that transcends kinship groups,
something radically changes (this shift and the crisis that comes with it are expressed
by Greek tragedy, in particular Aeschylus Oresteia). Individuals now appear as
members of a larger-group -such as the city-state or what we now call the State- while
still remaining members of lineages or clans for a long time to come. But the new
identity takes precedence over the old (generating a crisis that is in evidence in
SophoclesAntigoni). What is new is the equal status -isonomia- shared by everyone
under the law -nomos. It pertains to the middle space meson- where allegiances
between chiefs are cancelled in favor of a public recognition that is identically granted
to all. Thus in theIliad, when Achilles, furious at having been despoiled of his share
of booty, has succeeded in having Agamemnon return it to him, he refuses to have it
handed to him directly by the Achaean king; he demands that the goods be placed in
the middle -en to meson- so that they will come from the whole community of the
Greeks, thepolis.
Along with the emergence of the city and from this empty center, the law nomos-
as arbiter was proclaimed and the heroic reciprocity of lineages confronting each other
in the agncame to lose its legitimacy. Justice by arbitration was substituted for the
vindicatory justice that characterized ceremonial gift-giving relationships. A different
history was beginning. From then on every democratic transformation would take
place under the sign of the law and the third party as arbiter and against all forms of
reciprocal allegiance (such as feudal relationships).
My question then become this : if public recognition between groups which is
expressed by ceremonial exchanges of gifts in traditional societies is now guarantied
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by law and juridical institutions in state organized societies, shall we consider that
this formal affirmation or proclamation of rights is sufficient?- My answer would be :
it is necessary but not sufficient precisely because we cannot ignore the fundamental
claim for reciprocity. Therefore I will suggest to distinguish three spheres of
recognition: institutional, traditional and personal.
1/ The first one --institutional/public-- is that of laws, juridical systems, political
and economic institutions constitutes the new public sphere of decision for human
communities. Since it progressive affirmation with the early Modern period the claim
for reciprocity emerged trough the theories of contract (from Hobbes to Rousseau and
today with Rawls), which are indeed theories of social pact where law itself appears as
an object of mutual agreement among citizen. We are true political societies only if we
confirm to each other our agreement to obey to the same laws. For that very reason
the very idea of common law implies equality and constitute the base of any public
recognition.
2/ The second sphere which I call traditional is that of cultural practices forms ofcourtesy, ways of socializing in a workplace, neighborhood relationships, local
celebrations or festivals, and all forms of social relationships. These various
expressions always imply strong or loose forms of rituals and generate a sense of
community, solidarity and reciprocal services. It is certainly in that sphere that the
new claims for various identities find a chance of a strong expression and become
reality. Indeed one thing is to obtain legal or public rights another is to translate it in
forms of reciprocal respect in everyday life.
3/ The third sphere is that of personal relationships as they can be expressed in
love or friendship. This could be the legimimate realm of unilateral gift giving. It isalso the realm of ethical choices where the Kantian imperative of universal respect can
take place.
Or better said in the words of Lvinas : where the face of the Other in any
situation at any place calls us calls me- for an unconditional recognition.
Translated from French by Jean-Louis Morhange
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