Re: <nettime> Apropos of Richard Barbrook's post [to Cyber Society]

[nik <fragments@va.com.au>]

hi phi...

Seems to me that you've missed the point of the word 'gift' as its used in
'gift economy'. 

You seem to say that if something is produced, or is exchanged through a
medium, then it cannot ever be seen as 'free', even when it is given,
because of the labour that has gone into both its production and the
medium through which it is given. But how the object or act was produced,
or the medium through which it is given is not the point. 

No object or act is born free from labour or symbolic baggage - whether it
is a bottle of homebrew given to someone as a squatt-warming present in a
capitalist society, or a cup of coffee to a guest in a pre-capitalist
society. The point of a gift is not that it was not produced (either
physically or symbolically, for whatever worth that distinction is), but
that it is given. 

When something is given, it evades the rules of capitalist exchange
because the gift is not expected to be reciprocated - when you give you
don't expect to get in return. A gift economy (such as people putting up
hotline servers so others may download software off of them) is based on
generosity, not profit. The material/symbolic basis for the object/act
given, and the medium through which it is given do not alter this. The
point of difference between capitalist and gift economies is not based in
their various modes of production, but in their methods of distribution of
objects/acts. 

That said, it doesn't mean that the gift-giver doesn't gain anything for
their generosity - they may gain honor, social standing, etc. But to see
this gain as being part of the exchange, and not the social flow-on
effects of gift giving, would be a mistake. They are not integral to the
act of giving, are not expected by the giver, and do not always result for
the act of giving. 

ta,
nik

Phil Graham wrote:

>      [orig to: Cyber Society <CyberSociety-owner@listbot.com>}
>
> Happy new year all.
>
> Apropos of Richard Barbrook's post:

<....>




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