Gift Economies: Challenging the Logic of Capitalism

#GivingTuesday, which comes just days after the shopping frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, inspires us to look beyond consuming and focus instead on donating, volunteering, campaigning and supporting good causes. Della Duncan talked to filmmaker Robin McKenna about making giving and sharing a year-round affair.

What do an indigenous ceremony in Canada, Burning Man, and an occupied salami factory in Rome have in common? They are all expressions of the gift economy featured in GIFT, a new documentary by Robin McKenna, the guest of Upstream’s latest conversation.

“There must be a different way of organising ourselves than the dominant way we’re all indoctrinated with,” Robin told me as we sat together in San Francisco before a premiere of her film. In capitalism, relationships are usually concluded when an exchange is complete. In gift-giving, on the other hand, people cultivate a sense of healthy mutual indebtedness. Just imagine you are making a cake and you are short a couple of eggs. You could go to the store and buy them, or you could ask your neighbour and then come back later and watch their eyes light up when you hand them a slice of German chocolate goodness.

Giving Tuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States, was created as a response to the commercialisation and consumerism of the post-Thanksgiving shopping spree that includes Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. And while it’s great for nonprofits, artists and community groups to have a day dedicated to giving, there are also many existing economies of gift-giving around the world. It would benefit us all to both know about those examples and learn from them to expand our gift giving habits beyond Giving Tuesday.

According to Robin, trust is the key ingredient of gift economies. There is a risk when you give a gift. You don’t know if the other person will accept it and you don’t know what you will get back — or even if you will get anything back at all. In one of the scenes in GIFT, artist Mingwei Lee gives flowers to people to offer to strangers on the street. Some people accept the flowers graciously, but others refuse, confused and sceptical about what the gift is about.

For a gift economy to work, we have to learn how to receive. We can feel quite vulnerable when receiving a gift. It challenges the capitalist sense of autonomy and rugged individualism. It ties us to the gift-giver. But it also gives us a sense of belonging and connection in an increasingly atomised and disconnected world.

But if we gift-give more frequently, are there people who might take advantage of our generosity? Not if we are also asking for what we need. During the interview, Robin told me about Gift Circles, where someone practises asking for what they need and then people go around in a circle and say what they can offer them. I have also seen this at the Local Entrepreneur Forum in Totnes, England, hosted by the Reconomy Centre, where people with business ideas beneficial to people and the planet pitch their idea to a crowd and receive offers of support that can include not only financial investments, but also things like babysitting, meals and mentoring. People are not mind-readers and don’t always know what support we need. Surely it doesn’t hurt to ask?

Why we should gift-give beyond #GivingTuesday

As Robin said in our conversation, “the gift needs to keep moving.” Just as we wouldn’t want water from a river to be siphoned off from the common good into private stagnating pools, we want wealth to continue to flow to where it is needed. The gifts of our talents and skills inspire others to share their gifts with the world. The gifts of our time and money connect us with projects, causes and communities, and strengthen our sense of care and solidarity. 

It also just feels good to give. It helps us practice non-attachment and live a more simple, Marie Kondo-esque life.

So on this #GivingTuesday, donate away, but also consider how you can cultivate giving (and receiving) as a regular practice, challenging notions of private property, resisting the self-oriented exchange paradigm, and strengthening our sense of mutual indebtedness.

Listen to Upstream’s conversation with Robin McKenna

Learn more about the documentary film GIFT, including screening information

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, the International Inequalities Institute, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.