Gift in Economique Sociology: Some Forms of Exchange, Networks and Between-Systems

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to clarify some significances that concepts of gift have begun to change, through understanding the development of economic sociology.

Firstly, this paper studies economic sociologists in details, Polanyi and Granovettor, regarding the key concept ‘Embeddedness’.

Secondly, it indicates some importance of networks and social structures for overcoming ‘implicit atomizing’ problematics. At the same time, it surveys some social situations where networks have had tendencies to be undermined, from the fact that welfare states have been weakened and economic globalization has been spread.

On this examination, it focuses on MAUSS's viewpoint which develops conceptualizations of gift made by Marcel Mauss. MAUSS grasps gift as not only exchange but also as social relation, which bridges people between-systems. Moreover, this paper makes assertions that Mauss accounts ‘sortir de soi’ as principle of our life to create some social relations.

And it finds out gift as a constant movement which transcends and creates some contextualized rules among people.