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Hi! At 17:28 14.10.02 -0400, Graham Seaman wrote:
But there are other traditions and associations with gifts, linked with anthropology, literature and art rather than software and left politics. The best book I know about this is 'The Gift' by Lewis Hyde, published in 1979.
I came across similar contributions when I tried to understand the concept of a "moral economy" (coined in 1971 by the historian Edward P. Thompson). It seems to me that the meaning of "gift" you are referring to is part of a strand of academic research, which tried to uncover alternatives to the capitalist way of circulation and production of goods in pre-modern, not yet modern (Thompson, for instance, is writing about the transition period in England), or far-away societies/communities. This often is somewhat hidden within the contributions themselves, but I assume more often than not it may have been the actual context and motivation for the respective anthropological/historical/sociological research. And this, by the way, pretty much describes the reasons for my interest in Free Software as well.
That gifts continue to exist in modern societies in my opinion speaks in favour _and_ against using "gift economy" as label for all those things, which are to do with Internet and which (nevertheless?) are challenging capitialism. On the one hand, that most people know that exchanging gifts somehow is (and should be) different from exchanging commodities definitely is an advantage. However, gifts in commodified societies have connotations, which were mentioned by Stefan (e.g.: "He gave me a gift worth 20 Euro, now I can't give him one worth much less or more"), and which can become a problem for someone who wants to get the message through.
I confess not to have an alternative suggestion. Maybe Negri/Hardt are right and the time has come for the label 'communism' again? Anyway, I guess labelling is an important political question in this phase of Oekonux's fight, since (at least in my experience) arguing against misunderstandings is its main occupation when it comes to contact with a broader public - which is a pity, isn't it?
Best, Thomas (Be) _______________________ http://www.oekonux.org/
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