ANT 302 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Taonga, Marcel Mauss, Conspicuous Consumption
Adam Smith and Mauss:
Gifts and Commodities
Wealth of Nations
• Sees a division of labor in a coat factory and is fascinated by its ability to unite
workers all over the world into one practice
The Division of Labor, Barter, and the Origin of Society
• It is human nature for individuals to be self interested
• Bartering: there is a natural human desire to give to others when you gain from
that same exchange
• There is a larger gain when there is a division of labor
o This division of labor creates produce while simultaneously allowing
individuals to live in harmony
The updated version of the Lockean Problem:
• How to get from the State of Nature- in which individuals are free and equal, self-
interested and passionate- to Political Society (in which people sacrifice some of
their freedom and equality to the State)
• How to get from the State of Nature- in which individuals are free and equal, self-
interested and passionate- to society without recourse to the state.
Mauss on Locke:
• “You don’t start off with individuals that eventually come together to create a
system; rather, you start off with pre-set groups and clans through which
individuals are already bartering with each other.”
o The system of bartering is not a simple system of exchange, it is a social
norm and act- gift giving
▪ These gifts are strictly compulsory: it is not a choice but a
requirement
The hau of the gift:
• What imposes obligation in the present is the fact that the thing received is not
inactive. Even when the giver has abandoned it, it still possesses something of
him. Through it the giver has a hold over the beneficiary just as, through it he has
a hold over the thief.
o The taonga is animated by the hau of its forest-its native health and soil.
▪ It is truly “native” the hau follows after anyone possessing the
thing.
Commodities vs. gifts:
• What is a commodity?
o A commodity is something produced for sale on a market. When sold,
commodities leave the possession of the seller and are taken possession of
by the buyer. Once they are purchased, the relationship between a
commodity and the seller is ended, and the relationship between the buyer
and the seller is ended.
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Document Summary
Wealth of nations: sees a division of labor in a coat factory and is fascinated by its ability to unite workers all over the world into one practice. The division of labor, barter, and the origin of society. The hau of the gift: what imposes obligation in the present is the fact that the thing received is not inactive. Even when the giver has abandoned it, it still possesses something of him. Through it the giver has a hold over the beneficiary just as, through it he has a hold over the thief: the taonga is animated by the hau of its forest-its native health and soil. It is truly native the hau follows after anyone possessing the thing. Commodities vs. gifts: what is a commodity, a commodity is something produced for sale on a market. When sold, commodities leave the possession of the seller and are taken possession of by the buyer.
