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Bride‐service and the absent gift
Author(s) -
HughJones Stephen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the royal anthropological institute
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1467-9655
pISSN - 1359-0987
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9655.12037
Subject(s) - sociology , context (archaeology) , ethnography , diversity (politics) , gift giving , relevance (law) , bride , closure (psychology) , service (business) , history , economics , anthropology , law , economy , political science , archaeology , art history , conflict of interest
Building on a previous experiment to apply Strathern's discussions of M elanesian gift exchange to ethnography relating to T ukanoan societies in Northwest A mazonia, this essay asks why other authors should repeatedly affirm that the gift has no relevance in the A mazonian context. Two answers are proposed. Firstly, the authors concerned tend to assume that a particular type of social formation is characteristic of A mazonia as a whole. The T ukanoans, who engage in ceremonial exchange of food and goods, do not fit this rubric. Secondly, despite their differences, these authors assume that A mazonian societies are bride‐service societies where, axiomatically, there can be no gift. The T ukanoans are not bride‐service societies and, if anything, tend towards the bride‐wealth alternative. This T ukanoan exception serves to re‐emphasize the diversity of A mazonian social formations, one that would have been even greater in the archaeological past. It also warns against the dangers of over‐hasty theoretical closure.