Reciprocity in Human Societies

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 1-19

3. Inca and Maya Reciprocity

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 21-37

4. The Indian Gift and Village Servants

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 39-49

5. Moral Obligations in Early Modern Japan

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 51-57

6. Gift Exchange and Reciprocity in the Nordic Countries

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 59-77

7. Reciprocity in the French Army in the First World War and in the Finnish Army in 1941–1944

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 79-103

8. The Modern Welfare State

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 105-154

9. Inequality in the United States and Other Industrialized Countries

   • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

   Pages 155-208

10. Reciprocity Past and Present

    • Antti Kujala, Mirkka Danielsbacka

    Pages 209-216

11. Back Matter

    Pages 217-225

    PDF

Presenting new insights into reciprocity, this book combines Marcel Mauss’s well-known gift theory with Barrington Moore’s idea of mutual obligations linking rulers and the ruled. Teasing out the interrelatedness of these approaches, Reciprocity in Human Societies suggests that evolutionary psychology reveals a human tendency for reciprocity and collaboration, not only in a mutually cooperative way but also through increasing retributive moral emotions. The book discusses various historical societies and the different models of the current welfare state—Nordic (social democratic), conservative, and liberal— and the repercussions of the neoliberal policies of tax havens, tax cuts, and austerity with a cross-disciplinary approach that bridges evolutionary psychology, sociology, and social anthropology with history.

• reciprocity
• redistribution
• welfare state
• income inequality
• income distribution
• distribution of wealth
• vital inequality
• the gift
• Marcel Mauss
• Barrington Moore

“The book has many merits, and it can be warmly recommended to all researchers, teachers and students in wide fields of related research. Kujala and Danielsbacka clearly provide new insights into reciprocity by … shedding light on the questions of why and how reciprocity has played an important role in premodern and contemporary societies and will continue to do so in the future.” (Hans Hämäläinen, Finnish Yearbook of Population Research, Vol. 53, 2018)

• University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland

  Antti Kujala

• University of Turku , Turku, Finland

  Mirkka Danielsbacka

Antti Kujala is PhD and Docent (Senior Lecturer) in Finnish and Russian history at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has published many works on Finnish, Nordic and Russian history from the 17th to 20th century.

Mirkka Danielsbacka is Senior Researcher in the Department of Social Research at the University of Turku, Finland. She holds a PhD in Finnish and Nordic history and social and public policy at the University of Helsinki. Her research focuses on Second World War, welfare state and family relations.

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