The Unicorn's Bargain: The Gift and The Environment

Abstract

"Gifting" or "gift exchange" is an economic practice carried out in cultures worldwide, from so called "archaic" times to the present day. Definitions vary: to some, gifting is a mirror image or a shadow of the current market economy. To others it is the very opposite - generalized, delayed, unreciprocated, unpredictable, both creative and destructive. This Area of Concentration considers the latter definition, and focuses on how gifting economies among human societies can reflect, involve, and merge with cycles within nature.