Marcel Mauss - A Centenary Tribute

Marcel Mauss, successor of Emile Durkheim and one-time teacher of Claude Levi-Strauss, continues to inspire social scientists across various disciplines. Only selected texts of Mauss's work have been translated into English, but of these, some, as for instance his "Essay on the Gift," have proved of key significance for the development of anthropology internationally.

Recently and starting in France, the interest in Mauss's work has increased noticeably as witnessed by several reassessments of its relevance to current social theory. This collection of original essays is the first to introduce the English-language reader to the current re-evaluation of his ideas in continental Europe. Themes include the post-structuralist appraisal of "exchange", the anthropology of the body, practical techniques, gesture systems, the notions of substance, materiality, and the social person. There are fresh insights into comparative politics and history, modern forms of charity, and new readings of some political and historical aspects of Mauss's work that bear on the analysis of regions such as Africa and the Middle East, relatively neglected by the Durkheimian school and by structuralism. This volume is a timely tribute to mark the centenary of Mauss' early work and confirms the continuing relevance of his ideas.

List of contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTORY ESSAY

Chapter 1. 'One of us': Marcel Mauss and 'English' anthropology

Wendy James

THE SCHOLAR AND HIS TIME

Chapter 2. An intellectual self-portrait

Marcel Mauss

Chapter 3. Mauss's Jewish background: a biographical essay

W. S. F. Pickering

FOUNDATIONS OF MAUSSIAN ANTHROPOLOGY

Chapter 4. A vague but suggestive concept: the 'total social fact'

Alexander Gofman

Chapter 5. The Maussian shift: a second foundation for sociology in France?

Bruno Karsenti

Chapter 6. Derrida's reading of Mauss

Tim Jenkins

CRITIQUES OF EXCHANGE AND POWER

Chapter 7. Uncertainties of the 'obligation to reciprocate': a critique of Mauss

Alain Testart

Chapter 8. Mutual deception: totality, exchange, and Islam in the Middle East

Paul Dresch

Chapter 9. Modern philanthropy: reassessing the viability of a Maussian perspective

Ilana Silber

Chapter 10. Mauss, Dumont, and the distinction between status and power Materiality, body, history

Jonathan Parry

MATERIALITY, BODY, HISTORY

Chapter 11. The category of substance: a Maussian theme revisited

N. J. Allen

Chapter 12. The study of techniques as an ideological challenge: technology, nation, and humanity in the work of

Marcel Mauss

Nathan Schlanger

Chapter 13. Form, movement, and posture in Mauss: themes for today's anthropology

Claudine Haroche

Chapter 14. Mauss in Africa: on time, history, and politics

Wendy James

Select Bibliography

A: Reading Mauss in French

B: Work by Mauss available in English

C: Selected secondary sources

Notes on contributors

Index

About the author

After studying classics and medicine N. J. Allen (1939-2020) qualified in Social Anthropology at Oxford, undertaking fieldwork in Nepal. He was Reader in the Social Anthropology of South Asia at the University of Oxford.

Summary

Marcel Mauss, successor of Emile Durkheim and one-time teacher of Claude Levi-Strauss, continues to inspire social scientists across various disciplines. Only selected texts of Mauss's work have been translated into English, but of these, some, as for instance his "Essay on the Gift," have proved of key significance for the development of anthropology internationally.

Recently and starting in France, the interest in Mauss's work has increased noticeably as witnessed by several reassessments of its relevance to current social theory. This collection of original essays is the first to introduce the English-language reader to the current re-evaluation of his ideas in continental Europe. Themes include the post-structuralist appraisal of "exchange", the anthropology of the body, practical techniques, gesture systems, the notions of substance, materiality, and the social person. There are fresh insights into comparative politics and history, modern forms of charity, and new readings of some political and historical aspects of Mauss's work that bear on the analysis of regions such as Africa and the Middle East, relatively neglected by the Durkheimian school and by structuralism. This volume is a timely tribute to mark the centenary of Mauss' early work and confirms the continuing relevance of his ideas.

Additional text

"Each of the essays in this volume deals with various facets of his work, and all of them should be read."   · American Anthropologist

“This book offers a unique insight into the influence of one of the discipline’s most important theorists. James and Allen are thoughtful editors ... their respect produces the best form of criticism in fourteen essays by British, and other European, anthropologists ... This is intriguing and stimulating reading ... Mauss’s work receives careful attention in this book which is helpful, incisive, and broadly significant to anthropology.”  ·  JRAI

Product details

• Authors: Marcel Mauss
• Assisted by: N. J. Allen (Editor), Wendy James (Editor)
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.12.1998
• EAN: 9781571817037
• ISBN: 978-1-57181-703-7
• No. of pages: 256
• Series: Methodology & History in Anthropology; Methodology and History in Ant; Methodology & History in Anthr; Methodology & History in Anthropology; Methodology and History in Ant
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Theory and Methodology, Sociology