Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute

Published by Berghahn Books 1998

Marcel Mauss

A Centenary Tribute

Edited by: Wendy James and N. J. Allen

Volume 1 in the series Methodology & History in Anthropology

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781789205695

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Wendy James has taught at the University of Khartoum and has research experience in the Sudan and Ethiopia. She is currently Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford.

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.

Wendy James has taught at the University of Khartoum and has research experience in the Sudan and Ethiopia. She is currently Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford.

Reviews

“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.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI)

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Wj. Nja Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introductory essay
Chapter 1. ‘ONE OF US’ MARCEL MAUSS AND ‘ENGLISH’ ANTHROPOLOGY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
The scholar and his time
Chapter 2. AN INTELLECTUAL SELF-PORTRAIT Marcel Mauss Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
Chapter 3. MAUSS’S JEWISH BACKGROUND A BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY W. S. F. Pickering Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
Foundations of Maussian anthropology
Chapter 4. A VAGUE BUT SUGGESTIVE CONCEPT THE ‘TOTAL SOCIAL FACT’ Alexander Gofman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Chapter 5. THE MAUSSIAN SHIFT A SECOND FOUNDATION FOR SOCIOLOGY IN FRANCE? Bruno Karsenti Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter 6. DERRIDA’S READING OF MAUSS Tim Jenkins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
Critiques of exchange and power
Chapter 7. UNCERTAINTIES OF THE ‘OBLIGATION TO RECIPROCATE’ A CRITIQUE OF MAUSS Alain Testart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Chapter 8. MUTUAL DECEPTION TOTALITY, EXCHANGE, AND ISLAM IN THE MIDDLE EAST Paul Dresch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
Chapter 9. MODERN PHILANTHROPY REASSESSING THE VIABILITY OF A MAUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Ilana Silber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
Chapter 10. MAUSS, DUMONT, AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN STATUS AND POWER Jonathan P. Parry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Materiality, body, history
Chapter 11. THE CATEGORY OF SUBSTANCE A MAUSSIAN THEME REVISITED N. J. Allen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Chapter 12. THE STUDY OF TECHNIQUES AS AN IDEOLOGICAL CHALLENGE TECHNOLOGY, NATION, AND HUMANITY IN THE WORK OF MARCEL MAUSS Nathan Schlanger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
Chapter 13. FORM, MOVEMENT, AND POSTURE IN MAUSS THEMES FOR TODAY’S ANTHROPOLOGY Claudine Haroche Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Chapter 14. MAUSS IN AFRICA ON TIME, HISTORY, AND POLITICS Wendy James Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Reading Mauss in French Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
B. Work by Mauss available in English Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	250
C. Selected secondary sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
CONTRIBUTORS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	254

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 256
Keywords: Theory and Methodology; Sociology

eBook

Published: December 1, 1998
ISBN: 9781789205695