Sociology of Giving

Helmuth Berking author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:SAGE Publications Inc

Published:30th Mar '99

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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Sociology of Giving cover

This book decodes the ambivalence of gift-giving. It examines its socio-ethical and integrative potential. Following a short recollection of contemporary gift-giving, its motives, occasions and its rules, the reader is invited to travel back in time and space examining ′sacrifice′, ′food-sharing′, and ′gift giving′ as those basic institutions upon which symbolic orders of ′traditional′ society rely. The historical invention of hospitality is considered and paves the way to an analysis of the anthropology of giving.

Berking goes on to explore the transition from traditional society to the market, self interest form. He questions the view that our societies are dominated by individualism and explores the contemporary interplay between self interest and the common good.

ISBN: 9780761956495

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 310g

176 pages