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For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange
For-Giving, a Feminist Criticism of Exchange, first published in 1997 is an analysis of the values of gift giving seen as an economic mode of distribution based in maternal practice, and opposed to the self-reflecting and ego-oriented values of exchange on which the market economy is based. The values of Patriarchy entwine with those of Capitalism to create an economic system of domination, while a maternal economy would provide for everyone and promote a community-oriented subjectivity which would also honor Mother Nature. This book gives a woman based perspective on the gift economy as a basis for social change.
- GenresFeminism
432 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 9, 2021
For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange by Genevieve Vaughan has pulled together many of the thorns, questions, apparent contradictions, and the intuitions I have had as a feminist (and wise-woman in training) over the last nearly thirty years. I feel there is a lot more to understand about her theory, especially considering language, but the basic premise of extrapolating the other-oriented gift logic of the mother-infant relation into a viable social and value system to touch on every area of human life has been, for me as for others, like finding the missing piece of a puzzle. It's been there all along, but we have been taught not to see. In this sense, Vaughan is a Seer.
It took me a while to read the book (18 months) because I needed to deeply contemplate some of the information presented, to reflect on my own experiences and observe how others around me were living out of the complex relationship of gift and exchange, and also -importantly - to apply the gift principle to the challenges I daily face. Vaughan writes with such compassion whilst acknowledging the painfully uncertain boundaries we must often "negotiate" between the personal and political, feminist and patriarchal, gifting and exchange. We are often in a complex transitional journey, which is the very nature of feminism itself. The exchange system, after all, is at the root coercive and self-oriented, pitting us all against each other as we try to survive. The system of gender is also deeply explored in this book, in my view adding vital perspective to a much needed conversation in these current times of crisis - crisis of ignorance, and culture's unwillingness to confront generational trauma and the inherent violence of patriarchal dominator systems. The understanding of gender as being similarity or difference from the mother evaporates any need for women or men to "transition" in any way other than regarding the re-identification WITH the Maternal Gift Paradigm, which can nullify gender identity ideology altogether. The ancient mythologies which mention the 'sons of the mother' give us a clue as to a time when men did not alienate themselves from the mother, perhaps in a time before the invention of the state and private property. These sons of the mother may walk the Earth again, and the demise of our species may be avoided. Vaughan's work proposes we live as daughters and sons - as children (and 'adult children') of the Mother - attending to our consciousness and a return towards the potentials of our fullest humanity as giving humans.
I will undoubtedly be returning to this work in future, but the theory has given me hope where I was failing fast. Vaughan's acknowledgement of the bind we are in with regard to living enmeshed in the exchange system in so many ways including psychologically, materially, and even spiritually, and her ideas about how we can actually redirect our attention towards raising the gift consciousness are helpful and honest. Individuals can't do it alone, even if we can begin to transform our own consciousness, because the root understanding that we exist only in relationship is so vital to the understanding of the Maternal Gift Paradigm.
Genevieve Vaughan's call to clarity with theory and practical purpose is inspiring, and I am forever changed by this profound and extraordinary work.
It took me a while to read the book (18 months) because I needed to deeply contemplate some of the information presented, to reflect on my own experiences and observe how others around me were living out of the complex relationship of gift and exchange, and also -importantly - to apply the gift principle to the challenges I daily face. Vaughan writes with such compassion whilst acknowledging the painfully uncertain boundaries we must often "negotiate" between the personal and political, feminist and patriarchal, gifting and exchange. We are often in a complex transitional journey, which is the very nature of feminism itself. The exchange system, after all, is at the root coercive and self-oriented, pitting us all against each other as we try to survive. The system of gender is also deeply explored in this book, in my view adding vital perspective to a much needed conversation in these current times of crisis - crisis of ignorance, and culture's unwillingness to confront generational trauma and the inherent violence of patriarchal dominator systems. The understanding of gender as being similarity or difference from the mother evaporates any need for women or men to "transition" in any way other than regarding the re-identification WITH the Maternal Gift Paradigm, which can nullify gender identity ideology altogether. The ancient mythologies which mention the 'sons of the mother' give us a clue as to a time when men did not alienate themselves from the mother, perhaps in a time before the invention of the state and private property. These sons of the mother may walk the Earth again, and the demise of our species may be avoided. Vaughan's work proposes we live as daughters and sons - as children (and 'adult children') of the Mother - attending to our consciousness and a return towards the potentials of our fullest humanity as giving humans.
I will undoubtedly be returning to this work in future, but the theory has given me hope where I was failing fast. Vaughan's acknowledgement of the bind we are in with regard to living enmeshed in the exchange system in so many ways including psychologically, materially, and even spiritually, and her ideas about how we can actually redirect our attention towards raising the gift consciousness are helpful and honest. Individuals can't do it alone, even if we can begin to transform our own consciousness, because the root understanding that we exist only in relationship is so vital to the understanding of the Maternal Gift Paradigm.
Genevieve Vaughan's call to clarity with theory and practical purpose is inspiring, and I am forever changed by this profound and extraordinary work.
November 4, 2010
A compelling case for an alternative economic system.
November 5, 2014
very pleasant read. A new way to appreciate/ go about life
May 19, 2009
Interesting for its discussion of Christianity as exchange rather than gift economy. Otherwise, this is more propaganda for the author's social causes than a meaningful contribution to discussions of gift/exchange theory.
November 10, 2014
Ho davvero apprezzato questa lettura. Molto singolare e fa pensare.
November 12, 2014
Questo libro ritrae ciò che non è necessariamente un nuovo modo di pensare o di andare sulla vita, ma piuttosto un modo più rinfrescante e rassicurante del pensiero. Lettura molto piacevole!
November 17, 2014
Questo libro offre un modo nuovo e rinfrescante di life.If effettivamente eseguire e cercare di integrare ciò che questo libro sta dicendo nella vostra vita, la qualità della vostra vita aumenterà,
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews