Editing Gift economy (section)

== Case studies: prestations ==

Marcel Mauss was careful to distinguish "gift economies" (reciprocity) in market societies from the "total prestations" given in non-market societies. A prestation is a service provided out of obligation, like "community service".<ref name="Hann, Chris 2011 50" /> These "prestations" bring together domains across political, religious, legal, moral and economic definitions, such that the exchange can be seen to be [[Embeddedness|embedded]] in non-economic social institutions. These prestations are often competitive, as in the [[potlatch]], [[Kula ring|Kula exchange]], and [[Moka exchange]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Graeber |first=David |title=Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value |year=2001 |publisher=Palgrave |location=Basingstoke |page=153 |author-link=David Graeber |chapter=Marcel Mauss Revisited}}</ref>

=== Moka exchange in Papua New Guinea: competitive exchange ===
{{main|Moka exchange}}
[[File:Papua New Guinea map.png|thumbnail|[[Mount Hagen]], Papua New Guinea]]
The ''Moka'' is a highly ritualized system of exchange in the [[Mount Hagen]] area of [[Papua New Guinea]], that has become emblematic of the anthropological concepts of a "gift economy" and of a "[[Big man (anthropology)|big man]]" political system. Moka are reciprocal gifts that raise the social status of the giver if the gift is larger than one that the giver received. ''Moka'' refers specifically to the increment in the size of the gift.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gregory|first=C.A.|title=Gifts and Commodities|publisher=Academic Press|year=1982|location=London|pages=53}}</ref> The gifts are of a limited range of goods, primarily pigs and scarce pearl shells from the coast. To return the same value as one has received in a moka is simply to repay a debt, strict reciprocity. Moka is the extra. To some, this represents interest on an investment. However, one is not bound to provide moka, only to repay the debt. One adds moka to the gift to increase one's prestige, and to place the receiver in debt. It is this constant renewal of the debt relationship which keeps the relationship alive; a debt fully paid off ends further interaction. Giving more than one receives establishes a reputation as a Big man, whereas the simple repayment of debt, or failure to fully repay, pushes one's reputation towards the other end of the scale, "rubbish man".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gregory |first=C.A. |title=Gifts and Commodities |year=1982 |publisher=Academic Press |location=London |pages=53–54}}</ref> Gift exchange thus has a political effect; granting prestige or status to one, and a sense of debt in the other. A political system can be built out of these kinds of status relationships. Sahlins characterizes the difference between status and rank by highlighting that Big man is not a role; it is a status that is shared by many. The Big man is "not a prince ''of'' men", but a "prince among men". The "big man" system is based on the ability to persuade, rather than command.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sahlins |first=Marshall |title=Poor Man, Rich Man, Big-Man, Chief: Political Types in Melanesia and Polynesia |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |year=1963 |volume=5 |issue=3 |series=3 |pages=294–297 |doi=10.1017/s0010417500001729|s2cid=145254059 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Toraja funerals: the politics of meat distribution ===
[[File:Toraja house.jpg|thumb|right|Three ''tongkonan'' noble houses in a Torajan village]]
[[File:Tana Toraja, Salu funeral (6823105668).jpg|thumbnail|Slaughter of swine at a funeral]]
The [[Toraja]] are an [[ethnic group]] [[indigenous people|indigenous]] to a mountainous region of [[South Sulawesi]], Indonesia.<ref name="official">{{cite web |url=http://www.toraja.go.id/sosial.php |title=Tana Toraja official website |access-date=2006-10-04 |language=id |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060529201932/http://www.toraja.go.id/sosial.php |archive-date=May 29, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, and massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as ''[[tongkonan]]'' which are owned by noble families. Membership in a tongkonan is inherited by all descendants of its founders. Thus any individual may be a member of numerous tongkonan, as long as they contribute to its ritual events. Membership in a tongkonan carries benefits, such as the right to rent some of its rice fields.<ref name="Schrauwers8386">{{cite journal |last=Schrauwers |first=Albert |title=H(h)ouses, E(e)states and class; On the importance of capitals in central Sulawesi |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |year=2004 |volume=160 |issue=1 |pages=83–86 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003735|s2cid=128968473 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting several days. The funerals are like "big men" competitions where all the descendants of a tongkonan compete through gifts of sacrificial cattle. Participants have invested cattle with others over the years, and draw on those extended networks to make the largest gift. The winner of the competition becomes the new owner of the tongkonan and its rice lands. They display all the cattle horns from their winning sacrifice on a pole in front of the tongkonan.<ref name="Schrauwers8386" />

The Toraja funeral differs from the "big man" system in that the winner of the "gift" exchange gains control of the Tongkonan's property. It creates a clear social hierarchy between the noble owners of the tongkonan and its land, and the commoners who are forced to rent their fields from him. Since the owners of the tongkonan gain rent, they are better able to compete in the funeral gift exchanges, and their social rank is more stable than the "big man" system.<ref name="Schrauwers8386" />