Reciprocity in Human Societies

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 Societiessuggests 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 bookdiscusses 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 taxhavens, tax cuts, and austerity with across-disciplinary approach that bridges evolutionary psychology, sociology, and social anthropology with history.