Marcel Mauss
The Gift was published in 1925. It was written partially in response to the Bolshevik Revolution. In this book, Mauss argued that every society has both markets and money of some kind as well as altruism. Mauss claims that gifts are a “total social fact” which have spiritual parts to them. The Gift also examines gift giving traditions of some indigenous peoples. Mauss writes about the Māori idea of “Hau." He also talks about Potlatch, which was first practiced by indigenous groups in North America. Mauss believed that gift giving can tell us a lot about social relationships. He also believed that gift giving was connected to power. Mauss claimed that there is no such thing as a free gift. He thought every gift was part of an ongoing system of giving and receiving.