Tag: ownership

This was originally posted on April 15, 2013

In a gift economy inequalities are balanced out by the cultural practice of gift-giving. If you have more, then you give more, if you have little, you still feel it is better to give than to receive.  A person who hoards wealth is not viewed positively.

The worldview of a gift-giving economy is so far from our own that we can barely comprehend it.

In Skoteino, Crete, eighty-seven year old Marika awaits eagerly for the arrival of our group. She does not come empty-handed to join us after we have finished a meal lovingly prepared by Christina.  Marika brings a bottle of raki and urges us all to join her in downing a small glass of her homemade moonshine.  Often she offers us nuts she has cracked or raisins she has prepared as well .  She has almost nothing and lives without many modern conveniences, but she would not consider joining us without bringing a gift.

Continue reading “Legacy of Carol P. Christ: A Gift Economy: Could It Be Better To Give Than To Receive?”

In a gift economy inequalities are balanced out by the cultural practice of gift-giving. If you have more, then you give more, if you have little, you still feel it is better to give than to receive.  A person who hoards wealth is not viewed positively.

The worldview of a gift-giving economy is so far from our own that we can barely comprehend it.

In Skoteino, Crete, eighty-seven year old Marika awaits eagerly for the arrival of our group. She does not come empty-handed to join us after we have finished a meal lovingly prepared by Christina.  Marika brings a bottle of raki and urges us all to join her in downing a small glass of her homemade moonshine.  Often she offers us nuts she has cracked or raisins she has prepared as well .  She has almost nothing and lives without many modern conveniences, but she would not consider joining us without bringing a gift.

In Zaros, we arrive at our favorite hotel only to be told that the taverna that serves fresh trout is closed because the owner’s son will be getting married in the evening. When I complain that we have come to eat the special trout, our whole group is invited to the wedding.  Outside the taverna the grandmothers light fires under massive copper pots where they prepare the food. Over 600 people have been invited to the wedding. We are first served macaroni with virgin olive oil and goat cheese, then lamb, then goat, and salad. When the wine runs out, bottles of raki are brought to the tables. We dance all night long in a kind of a frenzy. Continue reading “A Gift Economy: Could It Be Better To Give Than To Receive? by Carol P. Christ”