What do gift-giving and international solidarity have to do with French sociologist Marcel Mauss, European colonialization, sovereign debt, and the partial bail-out of Greece?

Prof. Grégoire Mallard’s latest book, Gift Exchange: The Transnational History of a Political Idea (available open access here), investigates how the concepts of gift exchange and international solidarity have travelled historically and framed international economic governance.

Taking as a point of departure Marcel Mauss’ work on exchange and reciprocity at the start of the 20th century, the book demonstrates the profound influence Mauss has had on political life and intellectual thought nearly a century later.

The official book launch, which took place on 3 October 2019 during Geneva Democracy Week was co-organized by the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy and the Global Governance Centre.

Resonating with the confluence of various disciplines in Gift Exchange, the launch event included interventions from the Graduate Institute’s diverse faculty: Gopalan Balachandran, (International History), Ugo Panizza (International Economics), Anna Leander (International Relations/ Political Science), Fuad Zarbiyev (International Law), and Annabelle Littoz-Monnet (International Relations/ Political Science).

In addition to highlighting the role that anthropology, international law, and international economics have played in global economic governance, Gift Exchange also introduces novel themes from French intellectual thought to an English-speaking audience.

Read more here and watch the panel discussion: