Bio: (1872-1950) French anthropologist and sociologist. Marcel Mauss completed his studies at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes and after that, he taught at the same university from 1900 to 1931. After that, he lectured at the Collège de France, until 1941, when the Vichy government in France expelled him from college because of his Jewish origins. Mauss was a cousin and close associate of Émile Durkheim and significantly influenced the institutionalization of sociology and anthropology in France. Mauss is the co-founder of l'Institut Français de Sociologie (1924) and l'Institut d'Ethnologie (1926) both at the University of Paris and together with Durkheim and other associates, he is the founder of the magazine L'Année Sociologique, which he edited after Durkheim's death.

Mauss, together with Henri Hubert, another of Durkheim's collaborators, published the book Sacrifice and its Function (in French 1899). In this book, they deviate from earlier evolutionary approaches to the phenomenon of sacrifice. They view sacrifice as a religious act in which the victim, the one who sacrifices, and all the objects used in the ritual, have a sacred status. Sacrifice is not a simple act of appeasing sacred forces, instead, the essence of sacrifice is the ritual transformation of the persons participating in the ritual. The victim has the role of mediator between the profane and the sacral sphere, so through sacrifice, the connection of these two spheres is realized. Since the sphere of the sacred is separated and forbidden, sacrifice is necessary for communication between the two spheres to be realized safely. The victim thus becomes a symbolic substitute for the person making the sacrifice. The ritual of sacrifice itself has its time phases - preparing the sacrifice, initiatory rituals, actual sacrifice, consuming the sacrifice afterward - but it also has a spatial organization - concentric circles corresponding to different levels of sacredness, while at the center are the victim and the person performing the sacrifice.

Mauss and Hubert collaborated again on the book A General Theory of Magic (2001, in French 1902a). They explain the nature of magic by studying the concept of mana used in Melanesian and Polynesian societies. In these societies, mana is a mystical force that is the basis of all magical beliefs. They extend the conclusions reached in the study of mana, to explain magical beliefs in general. In all societies, people believe in the mystical force that exists in nature and that connects all things and beings in it, and that force is the basis of the action of magic. The power contained in different objects, animals, people, and supernatural beings differs in intensity, and contacts between beings of different levels of magical power carry with them danger. In humans, magical powers are associated with bodily functions, especially with substances that leave the body. However, magic is, in essence, a social phenomenon, because it is shaped by social structure and rules. Magic carries a higher level of privacy, secrecy, and mystery than religion, while the effects of magic are more direct, so magic cannot be the basis for the formation of institutionalized religion. Magic as a practical and utilitarian activity is the forerunner of practical knowledge and technologies: medicine, metallurgy, botany, astronomy, etc.

Durkheim and Mauss published a study Primitive Classification (1967, in French 1902b) in which they presented the thesis that in primitive societies the main categories and elementary forms of classification correspond to the social organization of these societies. The categories and classifications that primitive societies use to organize various phenomena - time, space, animals, plants, causality, unity - are based on social organization, which in turn is based on individual psychology. They believe that the individual mind is not able to make classifications based on some objective parameters, instead, these classifications are based on social organization (kinship and marriage systems, housing patterns, group, and economic activities), as well as on the specific relationship of society to the natural world. around itself. The authors, therefore, believe that "the classification of things reproduces the classification of men." The categorization of the world in the minds of individuals is not a consequence of an objective attempt to understand the natural world but represents an unconscious projection of social organization on the natural world.

Mauss and Durkheim collaborated again in writing an essay Seasonal Variations of the  Eskimo (1979, in French 1905). The authors apply the rules of social morphology, the approach introduced by Durkheim, to the study of Eskimo (Inuit) societies. Social morphology studies what they call the "material substrate" of society: the size and density of the population, its distribution, organization of society, and the intensity of interactions in a society. Eskimo societies go through seasonal variations that affect many aspects of social life: religious rituals, customary law, family organization, economic life, etc. During the summer, Eskimos live separately in single families, and in that period the intensity of social life and contacts are at a minimum, while in winter they gather in larger groups, so the intensity of social life is highest and the community is renewed. Quantitative changes in population density and interactions lead to qualitative changes in group consciousness and solidarity. The authors believe that a similar relationship of seasonal variations can be observed in other societies, and even European cities and villages (in winter, rural life is more isolated, while in summer it is filled with joint economic activities and social celebrations). Mauss and Durkheim emphasize the methodological importance of an exhaustive analytical study of a case because they believe that in this way a universal law can be proven.

In the book The Gift (2018, in French 1925), Mauss uses a method he calls the "method of precise comparison", to compare the relations of giving in the tribes of Oceania and North America, but also among the ancient Romans, Indians, and Germans. For primitive societies, the gift is a way to achieve peace, what Mauss calls "total prestation" and functions as a total contract. Total prestation, which creates a state of the continuous contract, applies to everything, everyone, and at all times. The gift creates a relationship of economic and moral reciprocity. Primitive society is divided into groups of different interests, but similar forces, for which the only way to survive is to choose between conflict or withdrawal. This aspect of these societies is not visible precisely because the gift prevents conflicts.

The native's rationalization of the symbolism and function of the gift is, in fact, the rationalization of the deeper need to establish reciprocal relations, due to the danger of war. The need to reciprocate, which is ingrained in the spirit of the gift, reduces the animosity that exists between groups. Refusal to give or receive a gift is, in fact, a refusal to establish an alliance and fellowship. In primitive societies, there is often no middle ground, that is, either a relationship of full trust or complete distrust will be established. Giving and receiving gifts is, at the same time, an economic, religious, and legal relationship between the two parties. Obligations, which arise from these relations, refer to the receiving, but also the obligatory return of gifts. Mauss, on the example of the custom of "potlatch" present in some North American tribes, shows how important the competitive side of giving gifts is, because the one who gives a bigger gift thus shows his status, and, at the same time, also increases his status in society.

In the article "Techniques of the Body" (1934), Mauss calls the techniques of the body specialized physical activities that reflect certain aspects of culture. Everyday physical activities are related to cultural expectations, with the author researching in detail what and how we work with our bodies. He believed that body techniques should be studied from a physiological, psychological, and sociological aspect.

Main works

Essai sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice (1899);

La sociologie: objet et méthode (1901);

Esquisse d'une théorie générale de la magie (1902a);

De quelques formes primitives de classification (1902b);

Essai sur les variations saisonnières des sociétés Eskimos (1905);

„Essai sur le don“, in L'Année Sociologique  (1925);

„Les techniques du corps“, in Journal de Psychologie (1934);

Sociologie et anthropologie (1950).

Works translated into English:

Sacrifice: its Nature and Function (1964, in French 1899);

A General Theory of Magic (2001, in French 1902a);

Primitive Classification (1967, in French 1902b);

The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies (2018, in French 1925);

Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo: A Study in Social Morphology (2013, in French 1905).