Acknowledgements Introduction - Concerning Things that are Given, Things that are Sold and Things that must not be Given or Sold, but Kept 1. The Legacy of Mauss A masterwork in chiaroscuro The simple reason behind a reputation: a powerful globe vision of gift-exchange as a concatenation of three obligations Gift-giving, a double-edged relationship The enigma of the gift and Mauss' solution Mauss mystified by indigenous theories: Lévi-Strauss' critique Re-examining Lévi-Strauss' critique of Marcel Mauss Lévi-Strauss' solution to the enigma: "floating signifiers" Language's big bang and the symbolic origin of society Lévi-Strauss' postulate: the primacy of the symbolic over the imaginary Forgetting the fourth obligation (men's gifts to the gods and to their representatives) A forgotten Mauss Concerning things that can be given and things that must be kept (Annette Weiner and the paradox of the gift) Concerning the twin foundations of society A critique of Mauss which completes his theory and takes other approaches as well A brief analysis of an example of non-agonistic gift and counter-gift No sooner given than returned (is there such a thing as an absurd gift?) Is the hau really the key to the mystery? (or how Mauss read the lesson of the sage Tamati Ranaipiri, from the Ngati-Raukawa tribe, as collected by the ethnologist Elsdon Best in 1909) Potlatch: the gift-exchange that fascinated Mauss The kula (a Melanesian example of potlatch according to Mauss) Moka Things do not move about without reason or of their own accord 2. Substitute Objects for Humans and for the Gods Sacred objects, precious objects and currency objects among the Baruya of New Guinea Concerning the things one keeps among the Baruya Sacred objects as gifts from the Sun, the Moon or the spirits to the Baruya's mythic ancestors Are sacred objects symbols? What is concealed inside a sacred object The men's theft of the flutes On the sublime Concerning things that the Baruya produce to give or exchange Baruya shell necklaces and "valuable" objects Gifts between friends Recapitulation of the things that are given, those that are kept and those that are exchanged among the Baruya Hypothesis on the emergence and development of potlatch societies What is the place of potlatch societies in history? What is a valuable? On the metamorphosis of an object of trade into a gift object or a sacred object 3. The Sacred What is the sacred? Concerning sacred objects as the presence-absence of man and society Concerning repressed things which enable humans to live in society Concerning the unequal gifts that, from the outset, gods, spirits, and humans have given each other Concerning the critical function of the social sciences 4. The Dis-enchanted Gift Concerning the necessary anchor points for fixing the identities of societies and individuals in time Concerning that which stands beyond the market in a market society The return of the gift and the displacement of the enigma Bibliography Notes Index.