What is a gift economy? - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Helen Zhang 校对人员: Ke Ding

This holiday season,

这个假期，

people around the world will give and receive presents.

世界各地的人们都将送出或收到礼物。

You might even get a knitted sweater from an aunt.

你甚至可能从某个姨妈那里 得到一件针织毛衫。

But what if instead of saying "thanks" before consigning it to the closet,

但如果除了把它放进衣柜 并说声“谢谢”之外，

the polite response expected from you

对方所期待的礼貌回应

was to show up to her house in a week with a better gift?

是你在一周内带着更好的礼物回访她呢？

Or to vote for her in the town election?

或者在镇选举中投票给她？

Or let her adopt your firstborn child?

又或者是让她收养你的长子？

All of these things might not sound so strange

如果你身处于“礼物经济”中，

if you are involved in a gift economy.

这些事情听起来就不足为怪了。

This phrase might seem contradictory.

这话听起来似乎自相矛盾，

After all, isn't a gift given for free?

毕竟，哪有礼物是白给的？

But in a gift economy, gifts given without explicit conditions

但是在“礼物经济“”中，除特殊情况外，

are used to foster a system of social ties and obligations.

馈赠礼物是被用来促进社会关系与责任的。

While the market economies we know are formed by relationships

正如我们所知道的，市场经济基于

between the things being traded,

物物交换之间的关系而形成，

a gift economy consists of the relationships

礼物经济则是由相互交换礼物的

between the people doing the trading.

人之间的关系所构成的。

Gift economies have existed throughout human history.

礼物经济在人类历史中由来已久。

The first studies of the concept

关于此概念最初的研究

came from anthropologists Bronislaw Malinowski and Marcel Mauss

来自于人类学家马林诺夫斯基以及莫斯

who describe the natives of the Trobriand islands

所描述的特罗布里恩群岛的原住民

making dangerous canoe journeys across miles of ocean

驾独木舟在充满危险的海洋中穿越数里

to exchange shell necklaces and arm bands.

只为交换贝壳项链和臂带。

The items traded through this process, known as the kula ring,

在这一过程中所交易的物品被称为“库拉环”，

have no practical use,

库拉环本身没有实际用途，

but derive importance from their original owners

但从其原主人那里获得了重要价值

and carry an obligation to continue the exchange.

并带有契约性，象征交易的持续进行。

Other gift economies may involve useful items,

其它的礼物经济或许包含有用的物品，

such as the potlatch feast of the Pacific Northwest,

例如在太平洋西北部的冬季赠礼节盛宴上 （美洲印第安人冬季的一个节日），

where chiefs compete for prestige by giving away livestock and blankets.

首领们以赠送牲口与毛毯的方式 来较量各自的威望。

We might say that instead of accumulating material wealth,

我们或许认为， 与其说这是物质财富的积累，

participants in a gift economy use it to accumulate social wealth.

不如说是礼物经济的参与者们 用这样的方式来积累社会财富。

Though some instances of gift economies may resemble barter,

虽然在某些情况下， 礼物经济可能类似于物物交换，

the difference is that the original gift is given without any preconditions

但和物物交换不同的是， 礼物经济中礼物的馈赠是没有任何前提条件

or haggling.

或争议的。

Instead, the social norm of reciprocity

相反地，互惠主义的社会规范

obligates recipients to voluntarily return the favor.

使得收礼人自愿回馈送礼人的好意。

But the rules for how and when to do so vary between cultures,

但是如何回馈和何时回馈 在不同的文化情境中又各不相同，

and the return on a gift can take many forms.

同样，回礼也有不同的方式。

A powerful chief giving livestock to a poor man

一位强大的首领将牲口给予一个穷人

may not expect goods in return,

或许不指望回馈礼物，

but gains social prestige at the debtor's expense.

但希望以债务人的支出来获得社会声望。

And among the Toraja people of Indonesia,

印度尼西亚的托拉嘉人则会

the status gained from gift ceremonies even determines land ownership.

通过赠礼的仪式获得地位 甚至决定着土地所有权。

The key is to keep the gift cycle going,

（礼物经济的）关键是保持赠礼的循环继续，

with someone always indebted to someone else.

使得总有某个人受惠于另一个人。

Repaying a gift immediately,

立即回礼，

or with something of exactly equal value,

或者回完全等价的礼物，

may be read as ending the social relationship.

被认为是彼此间社会关系的终结。

So, are gift economies exclusive to small-scale societies

那么，礼物经济只专属于在工业化世界

outside the industrialized world?

以外的小范围社会吗？

Not quite.

不完全是这样。

For one thing, even in these cultures,

首先，即使在这些文化情境中，

gift economies function alongside a market system for other exchanges.

礼物经济与其它交换市场体系并肩而行。

And when we think about it,

parts of our own societies work in similar ways.

细想一下，

我们自己社会的某些部分 也以类似的方式运行着。

Communal spaces, such as Burning Man,

公共场所的活动，如火烧人狂欢节，

operate as a mix of barter and a gift economy,

是一个物物交换和礼物交换的综合性活动，

where selling things for money is strictly taboo.

在那里，卖东西换钱是被严格禁止的。

In art and technology,

在艺术与技术领域中，

gift economies are emerging as an alternative to intellectual property

礼物经济是一种知识产权的替代。

where artists,

艺术家，

musicians,

音乐家，

and open-source developers

以及开放源码开发者

distribute their creative works, not for financial profit,

免费分发他们创作的作品， 不图经济利益，

but to raise their social profile or establish their community role.

只为提升他们的知名度 以及建立他们的社会角色。

And even potluck dinners and holiday gift traditions

即便在聚餐和节日互送礼物的传统中

involve some degree of reciprocity and social norms.

也含有某种程度的互惠主义和社会规范。

We might wonder if a gift is truly a gift

我们可能想知道一份礼物 是否真是一份礼物，

if it comes with obligations or involves some social pay off.

还是来自债务或涉及社交回报。

But this is missing the point.

然而，这偏离重点了。

Our idea of a free gift without social obligations

只有我们按市场定义来思考，

prevails only if we already think of everything in market terms.

我们不掺杂社交债务的 免费礼物的概念才能盛行。

And in a commericalized world,

在一个商业化的世界里，

the idea of strengthening bonds through giving and reciprocity

不管你身处何地， 通过赠予和互惠来加强纽带关系

may not be such a bad thing, wherever you may live.

或许并不是一件坏事。