The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

The Matter of Responsibility: Derrida and Gifting Across Cultures

The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory January 1, 2002

Lokensgard - The Matter of Responsibility - JCRT 4.1

Ken Lokensgard
College of Charleston

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in theories of the 'gift' and 'gifting' among those interested in cultural and religious studies. These scholars are reexamining the claim made by French sociologist, Marcel Mauss, that, among indigenous peoples and those whose cultures have developed independently from the now highly capitalistic cultures born from Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian pasts, an economy exists in which ongoing, reciprocal exchange is consciously emphasized. In The Gift: the Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies (first appearing in French in 1925 as 'Essai sur le don'), Mauss reveals that in most clan-based, indigenous societies, there is a strong awareness of interdependence and less concern with self-interest or the accrual of personal wealth than in many other societies.

Notes

Bibliography

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Ken Lokensgard is a visiting assistant professor of religion at the College of Charleston. He specializes in the religious consequences of cultural contact for indigenous peoples. He is also interested in the ethnography of religion and in the politics of cultural representation.

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