Marcel Mauss

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.

Wendy James (1940-2024) taught at the University of Khartoum and had research experience in the Sudan and Ethiopia. She was 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 (1940-2024) taught at the University of Khartoum and had research experience in the Sudan and Ethiopia. She was Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford.

“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)