Generous corporations? A Maussian analysis of international drug donations

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Auriane Guilbaud
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Distribution System ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Object A ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Commercial Process ◽  
Pure Altruism ◽  
Drug Donations

In this article, I claim that using Marcel Mauss’ The Gift can prove fruitful in analyzing pharmaceutical donations, the role of interests in gift-giving, the complex intertwining of the domains of the gift and commerce, and in contributing to a theory of social justice. Drug donations refer to the practice of giving medicines “for free,” outside of the drug market, with the ultimate goal of reaching populations in need. So an object (a drug) otherwise sold on the market (even if sometimes at a subsidized price), and usually subject to a specific commercial process, enters a different circuit and distribution system. Yet, even if drug donations seem to break with the logic of exchange constitutive of the market, they are intimately linked to market dynamics. This is especially true in the case of corporate drug donations, because of the nature of the donor and the presence of ulterior motives. Accordingly, this practice can be explained with the help of a Maussian understanding of the gift, where gift-giving is not disinterested and does not have to result from pure altruism, but can very well be part of a larger process of accumulating wealth and power.

"‘A Peculiar Gift of Providence": The Power-Imbalance Caused by Gift-Giving in Millenium Hall

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisia Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Power Imbalance ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
The Gift

Sarah Scott's eighteenth-century novel Millenium Hall canvasses the role of gift-giving in the dynamics heteronormative-domestic, economic, and spiritual relationships. The pharmakon of the gift plays a central role in Scott's understanding of philanthropy, and the construction of her female-inhabited, female-run utopia. This article's principle occupation is to show that all instances of gift-giving in Millenium Hall create power-imbalances between the superior giver and the inferior receiver; however, Sarah Scott's female utopia constructs the most preferable type of subservience.

The Price of Friendship

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 117-136
Author(s):  
Maria Salomon Arel
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Networks Of Support

Abstract This article discusses the gift-giving behaviour of English merchants involved in the Russia trade in the Muscovite era. Drawing on a small, but growing body of historical literature relating to the role of gifts in the cultivation of mutually beneficial relations between people across the social spectrum in early modern Europe, it explores the various ways in which the English deployed the practice of giving to their advantage, both in England and in Russia. In particular, as ‘strangers’ in Russia who operated beyond the parameters of traditional kin- and community-based networks of support, English merchants (and other foreigners, such as their Dutch competitors) needed to both ‘befriend’ Russian clients on the ground in every-day trade and nurture relationships in high places to ensure smooth, profitable, and secure business. As the sources reveal, they engaged in a variety of gift-giving behaviours in building relationships with Russians advantageous to their enterprise.

scholarly journals What should I do? The role of reciprocity and social norms on gift choices

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-52
Author(s):  
Daniel Modenesi Andrade ◽  
Lucia Salmonson Guimarães Barros
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Gift Exchanges ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Shed Light

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals resolve a conflict between reciprocity and social norms when choosing the price of a gift, and to investigate whether gift exchanges conducted in public or private and people’s appreciation for past gifts play a moderating role in this decision.Method: We ran two web-based survey experiments.Main results: Results showed that when people must choose between reciprocity and social norms, people tend to be reciprocal. However, there are some exceptional circumstances: people preferred to follow social norms when they received a cheaper gift in public, and when they were displeased with a prior expensive gift.Contributions: These findings help shed light onto how people make price decisions when choosing a gift.Relevance/Originality: Understanding price decisions in the gift-giving context is surprisingly an underexplored topic in the marketing literature.Managerial Implications: Understanding how people make price choices is important to practitioners. For instance, retailers can adjust their assortments to offer products across different price ranges, and sales people can make better offers to customers based on how much they are willing to spend.

scholarly journals Institutional analysis and the gift: an introduction to the symposium

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 665-674
Author(s):  
Stefan Kesting ◽  
Ioana Negru ◽  
Paolo Silvestri
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Gift ◽  
State And Market ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractHow can gift and gift-giving studies be relevant to the study of institutions and vice versa? This is the question we broadly address in the introduction to this symposium while drawing on the contributing articles and sketching out a possible future research in a perspective of integration between these two fields of study. Is the gift an institution? What types of methodological approaches would be most suitable in view of such integration? We define the gift as transfers underpinned by institutions, including customs and norms. We contend that the institutional thought can employ empirical and qualitative research methods used by anthropology and that there are important and fruitful lines of tension between gift-giving and institutions – from the relationship between freedom and obligation to the role of third sector between state and market – worthy of further research in the future.

Gift Giving at the Court of Henry VIII: the 1539 New Year's Gift Roll in Context

2005 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 126-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Gift Exchange ◽  
The Other ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Henry Viii ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
The Gift

The exchange of gifts at the New Year was a very significant social, political and financial event at the court of Henry VIII, just as it would have been at the courts of his English predecessors and European contemporaries. The process of gift exchange, including who made, received and gave gifts, was recorded each year in the gift roll. This article presents a detailed analysis of the 1539 gift roll, now in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, in the context of the other extant rolls for 1528, 1532 and 1534. Areas for discussion include a consideration of the range and significance of the gifts given and received by Henry and the role of the goldsmiths who made the king's gifts, including the weight, style and shape of the pieces commissioned. The article is supported by a full transcript of the 1539 gift roll, which is accompanied by extensive references comparing this gift roll to the other surviving gift rolls.

scholarly journals Personal values and gift giving act: a proposed connection

2020 ◽  
pp. 218-228
Author(s):  
Sérgio Cruz Passos ◽  
Ramon Silva Leite ◽  
Marcelo de Rezende Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Consumer Attitudes ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Gift Giving ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
The Gift

The consumption of gifts is relevant and many commerce sales are carried out during traditional times of gift-giving, such as Christmas. The objective of this paper is to propose and validate a model that measures the influence of personal values in the act of gift giving, also considering the role of gender in these relationships. A survey was carried out on 1,085 consumers. Through structural equation modeling with partial least squares (SEM-PLS), it was verified that the gift giving act is influenced by five personal values: self-direction, hedonism, tradition, achievement, and power. The results show that personal values can be used to predict the behavior of gifting. This study integrates Gift-Giving Theory and Personal Values Theory to better understand consumer attitudes and behaviors.

Moral Factor of Social and Economic Progress

2007 ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Bogomolov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Moral Atmosphere ◽  
Economic Progress ◽  
Moral Factor

The article reveals the influence of the spiritual and moral atmosphere in the society on economic development. The emphasis is put especially on the role of social confidence and social justice. The author indicates also some measures on improving the worsening moral situation in Russia.

Zakat as a Measure of Social Justice in Islamic Finance : An Accountant’s Overview

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranam Dhar
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Poverty Eradication ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Family ◽  
Additional Amount ◽  
Important Form

Zakat is an important form of religiously mandated charity under Islam. It is the third pillar of Islam. The giving of Zakat is important for Muslims, as this leads to purification of their wealth from all sins. This paper examines the role of Zakat as an instrument of social justice and poverty eradication in society. Each Muslim calculates his or her own Zakat individually. Generally, this involves the payment each year of two and a half percent of one's capital, after the needs of the family have been met. One can donate additional amount as an act of voluntary charity but Zakat is fundamental to every Muslim. Zakat is the Islamic contribution to social justice: those who have to give charity share the benefit of their prosperity to those who have fallen short. This is the Islamic approach to remove greed and envy and to purify one's soul based on good intentions. This is the institution of Zakat in Islam. The institution of Zakat serves to eradicate poverty in the community and uphold the light of Islam. Allah says “whatever is paid as Zakat for the sake of Allah shall be rewarded in manifolds”.

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