Question: According to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, a ‘gift’ is ‘something...which is voluntarily transferred to another without the expectation or receipt of an equivalent’. Anthropologists, however, routinely talk about ‘gift-exchange’. Discuss this apparent paradox.
Answer: Gifts are exchanged constantly for all sorts of occasions, ranging from economic transactions to celebrations, such as birthdays. In some situations, such as birthday gifts, people usually give gifts without expecting a return of the equivalent in that particular moment, they do, however, expect a gift from the very same person when it is their own birthday. This is gift exchange. I believe that there is no universal conformity of gift exchange that exists in societies, as will be illustrated; some societies differ in the sense that there is a one way transaction of gifts. In this essay I will look at various anthropologists and what they say about gift exchange in relation to the societies they are studying, and henceforth, show how societies differ when it comes to exchanging gifts....(short extract)
To download the full answer, please Sign in or Register then make a payment or submit 3 of your essays.
- Subject: Anthropology
- Course: Anthropology
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 66%
- Words: 2280
- Date submitted: February 26, 2009
- Date written: April, 2002
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 809
