ANTH 3220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Marcel Mauss, Trobriand Islands, Darr
3 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Different economic relations - not always reciprocity. Moral economic relations: baseline communism, exchange, hierarchy. Focus on exchange relations (between relative equals) Debt (next section) - can often slip into hierarchy. Creating social relationships and creating social status. Humans went from nomadic to settled - increasing signs of inequality, different classes - development of chie y societies - chief would establish status through elaborate gift giving ceremonies. The redistributive gifting of the potlatch - first nations of the northwest coast - chief would reaf rm their status, giving away gifts to others at this ceremony. The kula ring of the trobriand islanders - male gifting network - gifting process between male elites from different islands - to receive kula was a marker of your elite status in. Often competitive - by giving things of more perceived value - elevating status. Elevating status -> creating a social network -> therefore creating security. The bigger your social network, the more secure you are.
