The Development Gift: The Problem of Reciprocity in the NGO World
- 1 November 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
- Vol. 554 (1) , 66-80
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716297554001005
Abstract
Drawing on Mauss's classical essay on “The Gift,” the authors examine the relationship between Western development nongovernmental organizations and their Southern counterparts. It is argued that what starts out as a seemingly free gift is transformed into a heavily conditional gift when it reaches the ultimate recipient. Despite the apparent one-way flow of goods, there are in practice symbolic forms of reciprocity that tie together the Northern donors and Southern receivers. While the complexities of this relationship do not make partnerships between North and South impossible, they certainly make them problematic: there is no such thing as a free gift.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Rural DevelopmentPublished by Taylor & Francis ,2014
- Distant obligations: speculations on NGO funding and the global marketReview of African Political Economy, 1992
- The Gift, the Indian Gift and the 'Indian Gift'Man, 1986