The gift is primarily about the relationships being transacted, about the people involved in these transactions rather than the ceremonial giving and receiving of things (Carrier 1995: 19). Write an essay evaluating the role of alienable and inalienable goods in underscoring the importance of exchange transactions.
In order for us to take an in depth look at the idea of gift giving and the relationships involved in such a ceremonial transaction we must first look at the people that are involved in the transaction. Not only must we look that the people but we must also focus on the affiliation between people and the actual object itself. Carrier himself states in his essay; “Gifts and Commodities” that “Clearly there is much more in our relationship to objects than sheer utility” (Carrier, 1995. 1), and thus proving to us that there we have a much more intimate relationship with material objects than we first imagined. This bond is deep enough that we even need material objects to define who we are sometimes, for example if a punk rocker claims to be a punk rocker he must dress according to the social image of a punk rocker and from there we can assume that person’s identity and personality as a punk rocker. Carrier says himself that “The corollary is that objects signify status identity and so constitute a claim to status-group membership on the part of those who have them” (Carrier, 1995. 2). Another major concept that is involved with both the relationship between humans and material objects and with the ceremonial act of gift giving is reciprocity. It shows us and defines to us the strength of the bond between people and material objects.
It goes without a doubt that humans have a natural affiliation with objects as we all have a material need and it is through these objects that we can control these needs. Carrier states in his essay; “Gifts and Commodities” that “Humans do have material needs, and objects can satisfy them” (Carrier, 1995. 1). As I stated earlier we need material objects for a variety of reasons, one of which is for them help define and show our society both our identity and our personality. It is for this reason that we have such a deep connection with material objects, because as long as society continues to exist so will the need for material objects. However this essay, nor is Carrier’s essay, about the connection between people, identity and material objects but instead, as Carrier puts it, we are going to “investigate the ways that objects are implicated in personal relationships, rather than seeing them in mass structures of meaning and identity” (Carrier, 1995. 10). In order to get a full understanding of such a topic we must first take a look at what is known as reciprocity, reciprocity is a term used to describe the exchange of goods and labour. It was separated into a few separate terms know as, generalized reciprocity, balanced or Symmetrical reciprocity and negative reciprocity. The term which most applies to the ceremony of gift giving is generalized reciprocity as it is described as the event of giving or sharing. It is defined as when a certain individual shares his expertise with another individual in his society who is in need of his goods or labour without expecting anything in return. However this does not define the event as “reciprocal” as the giver expects nothing in return, but this interaction is indeed "reciprocal" as the individual who gives his goods is overcome by such satisfaction in giving his services, and the fact that it creates a social bond between the giver and the receiver and that is what he attains in return for his goods or services. In modern day society this seems to occur mainly between parents and children or within married couples as there seems to be a certain amount of trust and social interaction involved between the people within the event. It is through these transactions with other people that also help define our identity, not just that material object itself. Carrier himself says that; “Indeed, in some ways transaction creates the very identities of those involved in it.” (Carrier. 1995. 35) These, reciprocal events help define our relationships with other people, as I said before through these events we can gain social bonds with people but we also need certain amount of social interaction with that same person before we can involve ourselves in such a transaction.