The Gift
"Since its first publication in English in 1954, Marcel Mauss's Essai sur le Don has been acclaimed as a classic among anthropology texts. He sees the gift exchange as related to individuals and groups as much as to the objects themselves, and his analysis calls into question the social conventions and economic systems that had been taken for granted for so many years." "In a modern translation, introduced by the distinguished anthropologist Mary Douglas, The Gift is essential reading for students of social anthropology and sociology. Book jacket."--Jacket.