Reciprocity lies at the heart of the influential theory of gift exchange proposed by Marcel Mauss a century ago. Seventy years later, Annette Weiner's theory of inalienable possessions offered an important critique of the Maussian tradition's emphasis on reciprocity: for Weiner, it was time to pay attention to human efforts to hold back precious objects from the demands of exchange. This essay revisits Weiner's dialogue with Mauss to argue that her contribution is most fruitfully read as a transgenerational extension of his thought rather than its abrogation. This is done through a slow synthetic rereading of aspects of the gift exchange literature, with particular attention to the work of Maurice Godelier, and its application to the itinerary of a family object.
Jonathan Glasser (Wed,) studied this question.