He leaves open the question of whether the instrumental exchange is another type of generalised human moral exchange or is distinct in belonging entirely to the mechanical realm. Modern economies have substituted a secular, instrumental exchange for the previous thicket of moral-ethical universes. Mauss implies (or Evans-Pritchard interprets in the intro to the 1966 edition) that there is a fundamental difference in the gift exchange between ‘archaic’ and modern societies. They are systems of ethics, resource distribution, status maintenance, and conflict play. Yet these acts bind and symbolise social relationships. The millions of gift giving acts that take place each day throughout the world are unremarked other than between giver and receiver. Seen ‘in totality’ as Mass put it, the gift affirms and reproduces cultural values, social relationships and hierarchies. The structured obligation of the gift is a recurring act. Mauss was interested in what happened between people, as that is where the social can be found. The Gift by Marcel Mauss is one of the most profound essays in sociology and anthropology.
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