The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

by Richard Morris Titmuss

Richard Titmuss (1907-1973) was a pioneer in the field of social administration (now social policy). In this reissued classic, listed by the New York Times as one of the 10 most important books of the year when it was first published in 1970, he compares blood donation in the US and UK, contrasting the British system of reliance on voluntary donors to the American one in which the blood supply is in the hands of for-profit enterprises, concluding that a system based on altruism is both safer and more economically efficient. Titmuss’s argument about how altruism binds societies together has proved a powerful tool in the analysis of welfare provision. His analysis is even more topical now in an age of ever changing health care policy and at a time when health and welfare systems are under sustained attack from many quarters.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology, Politics, History, Health, Social Science

356 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1971

About the author

Richard Morris Titmuss CBE, FBA, was a pioneering British social researcher and teacher. He founded the academic discipline of Social Administration (now largely known in universities as Social Policy) and held the founding chair in the subject at the London School of Economics.

Reviews

[Olivia Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating: 3.5. it was hard to choose the rating: it could be boring and repetitive, but only because Titmuss was being a proper academic by acknowledging the methodology, limitations, sample size, etc. of studies (i skimmed through so many) AND writing conclusion paragraphs like the chapters were essays🙄so fineee props to that. the content itself is super interesting! an exploration of voluntary blood donation as the most altruistic form of gift-giving and a strong case against privatized healthcare - and social services - in general. btw this book was written in the 1970s so seeing a weekly income of £50 be considered wealthy was like getting hit by a truck

[Alex Still · Rating 4 out of 5]

A necessary read and I enjoyed this book, even if it was a bit dry at times. It mostly reads like an extended essay and the force of his moral arguments outweigh the several tables of quantitative data used to back up his arguments. This book was written before the contaminated blood scandal erupted in Britain, but its findings were prescient at the time and even more relevant today as Western societies increasingly subject their public services and welfare regimes to a utilitarian, value-for-money ethos based not so much on the ethical principle of selflessly giving to strangers, but on a quantifiable, what’s-in-it for me individualism. You’ll need to persist, but it’s a worthwhile read. It also sheds a lot of light on the philosophical and policy direction of Mark Drakeford’s Welsh Government.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps this book, which I think is a remarkable analysis of human altruism, is a little old fashioned in style. I may think this because it is quite a nostalgia-inducing book for me. It takes me back to university days when I was introduced to some interesting thinkers like Titmuss. I'd also highly recommend Titmuss' other books about social policy in the UK.

[Brendan]

Didn't read all of this, just the prefaces and introduction were what I needed to know. ' Blank Despair ' was one of the descriptions of the situation with haemophilia in the 60s and 70s, which is accurate.

[Brittany McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

REad for work. Great little book about the differences between volunteer donation systems and those designed by a for-profit, economic model. Mostly lays out the facts and numbers (published in 1971) relying heavily on detailed information from England and the US but also incorporating any relevant material from around the world. Builds the case that some things should stay rested on the motivation to help people rather than make a buck.

[Mills College Library]

362.4 T619 1997