Gifts of Cooperation, Mauss and Pragmatism

This book focuses on the contribution of Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) to social theory and a theory of cooperation. It shows that Mauss’s essay "The Gift" (1925) can be seen as a classic of a symbolic, non-structuralist, interactionist and anti-utilitarian sociology. It critiques the dichotomy of self-interest and normatively orientated action that forms the basis of sociology. It argues that it is the logic of the gift and its reciprocity that accompany and structure all forms of interaction, from the social micro- to the macro-level.