Gift Exchange

'Against the usual view of Marcel Mauss as an armchair anthropologist, secluded in the higher reaches of the academia, Grégoire Mallard explores the many social milieus in which Mauss operated, including early twentieth-century socialist politics, journalism, high finance, and the emerging state technocracy. Mallard shows how Mauss's classic essay, The Gift, offered a complex worldview that had a profound influence on generations of politicians and public intellectuals involved in everything from the debate on German reparations to pre-war colonial politics in France, the North-South conflict post-1960, and current sovereign debt issues. In short, this is a most remarkable book, extremely well researched and elegantly written.' Jerome Sgard, Sciences-Po Paris
'Original and very well documented, Grégoire Mallard's book is a masterpiece at the confluence of many disciplines: history of ideas, anthropology, sociology, and political science. Mallard offers a new interpretation of Marcel Mauss's The Gift while linking the two sides of his work, his anthropological essays on exchange and reciprocity, and his political reflections on nation, peace, and war.' Marcel Fournier, University of Montreal and author of Marcel Mauss: A Biography
'This book is a gem. It is full of insights about a topic - sovereign debt crises - that is, unfortunately, timely. Professor Mallard's insights about Mauss and gift exchange, and their relationship to key events in the history of sovereign debt resolution were stunning to me. For those interested in the meaning of sovereignty in the post-colonial era, this is a must read. Plus, it is fun.' Mitu Gulati, Duke University, North Carolina
'Grégoire Mallard offers an extraordinary exploration of the ongoing relevance of Mauss's The Gift both to scholarship and, above all, to political life, during the mid-twentieth century. Mallard tracks Mauss's concepts and influence through the creation of new interdependences, the re-emergence of attention to the local, and the creation of new trade conventions. He includes themes that English-speaking readers may know very little about due to the centrality of French post-colonial life, such as the ongoing relations of France and Algeria. A remarkably original resource and inspiration.' Jane I. Guyer, The Johns Hopkins University