Societies and Economic Systems [51 ]
application. Reciprocity and redistribution are able to ensure the
working of an economic system without the help of written records
and elaborate administration only because the organization of the so-
cieties in question meets the requirements of such a solution with the
help of patterns such as symmetry and centricity
Reciprocity is enormously facilitated by the institutional pattern
of symmetry, a frequent feature of social organization among nonlit-
erate peoples. The striking "duality" which we find in tribal subdivi-
sions lends itself to the pairing out of individual relations and thereby
assists the give-and-take of goods and services in the absence of per-
manent records. The moieties of savage society which tend to create a
"pendant" to each subdivision, turned out to result from, as well as
help to perform, the acts of reciprocity on which the system rests. Lit-
tle is known of the origin of "duality"; but each coastal village on the
Trobriand Islands appears to have its counterpart in an inland village,
so that the important exchange of breadfruits and fish, though dis-
guised as a reciprocal distribution of gifts, and actually disjoint in
time, can be organized smoothly. In the Kula trade, too, each individ-
ual has his partner on another isle, thus personalizing to a remarkable
extent the relationship of reciprocity. But for the frequency of the
symmetrical pattern in the subdivisions of the tribe, in the location of
settlements, as well as in intertribal relations, a broad reciprocity rely-
ing on the long-run working of separated acts of give-and-take would
be impracticable.
The institutional pattern of centricity, again, which is present to
some extent in all human groups, provide a track for the collection,
storage, and redistribution of goods and services. The members of a
hunting tribe usually deliver the game to the headman for redistribu-
tion. It is in the nature of hunting that the output of game is irregular,
besides being the result of a collective input. Under conditions such as
these no other method of sharing is practicable if the group is not to
break up after every hunt. Yet in all economies of kind a similar need
exists, be the group ever so numerous. And the larger the territory and
the more varied the produce, the more will redistribution result in an
effective division of labor, since it must help to link up geographically
differentiated groups of producers.
Symmetry and centricity will meet halfway the needs of reciproc-
ity and redistribution; institutional patterns and principles of behav-
ior are mutually adjusted. As long as social organization runs in its
[ 52 ] The Great Transformation
ruts, no individual economic motives need come into play; no shirk-
ing of personal effort need be feared; division of labor will automati-
cally be ensured; economic obligations will be duly discharged; and,
above all, the material means for an exuberant display of abundance at
all public festivals will be provided. In such a community the idea of
profit is barred; higgling and haggling is decried; giving freely is ac-
claimed as a virtue; the supposed propensity to barter, truck, and ex-
change does not appear. The economic system is, in effect, a mere
function of social organization.
It should by no means be inferred that socioeconomic principles of
this type are restricted to primitive procedures or small communities;
that a gainless and marketless economy must necessarily be simple.
The Kula ring, in western Melanesia, based on the principle of reci-
procity, is one of the most elaborate trading transactions known to
man; and redistribution was present on a gigantic scale in the civiliza-
tion of the Pyramids.
The Trobriand Islands belong to an archipelago forming roughly a
circle, and an important part of the population of this archipelago
spends a considerable proportion of its time in activities of the Kula
trade. We describe it as trade though no profit is involved, either in
money or in kind; no goods are hoarded or even possessed perma-
nently; the goods received are enjoyed by giving them away; no hig-
gling and haggling, no truck, barter, or exchange enters; and the whole
proceedings are entirely regulated by etiquette and magic. Still, it is
trade, and large expeditions are undertaken periodically by natives of
this approximately ring-shaped archipelago in order to carry one kind
of valuable object to peoples living on distant islands situated clock-
wise, while other expeditions are arranged carrying another kind of
valuable object to the islands of the archipelago lying counterclock-
wise. In the long run, both sets of objects—white-shell arm bands and
red-shell necklaces of traditional make—will move round the archi-
pelago, a traject which may take them up to ten years to complete.
Moreover, there are, as a rule, individual partners in Kula who recipro-
cate one another's Kula gifts with equally valuable armbands and
necklaces, preferably such as have previously belonged to distin-
guished persons. Now, a systematic and organized give-and-take of
valuable objects transported over long distances is justly described as
trade. Yet this complex whole is exclusively run on the lines of reci-
procity. An intricate time-space-person system covering hundreds of
Societies and Economic Systems [ 53 ]
miles and several decades, linking many hundreds of people in respect
to thousands of strictly individual objects, is being handled here with-
out any records or administration, but also without any motive of gain
or truck. Not the propensity to barter, but reciprocity in social behav-
ior dominates. Nevertheless, the result is a stupendous organizational
achievement in the economic field. Indeed, it would be interesting to
consider whether even the most advanced modern market organiza-
tion, based on exact accountancy, would be able to cope with such
a task, should it care to undertake it. It is to be feared that the unfor-
tunate dealers, faced with innumerable monopolists buying and sell-
ing individual objects with extravagant restrictions attached to each
transaction, would fail to make a standard profit and might prefer to
go out of business.
Redistribution also has its long and variegated history which leads
up almost to modern times. The Bergdama returning from his hunt-
ing excursion, the woman coming back from her search for roots,
fruit, or leaves are expected to offer the greater part of their spoil for
the benefit of the community. In practice, this means that the produce
of their activity is shared with the other persons who happen to be liv-
ing with them. Up to this point the idea of reciprocity prevails: today's
giving will be recompensed by tomorrow's taking. Among some
tribes, however, there is an intermediary in the person of the headman
or other prominent member of the group; it is he who receives and dis-
tributes the supplies, especially if they need to be stored. This is redis-
tribution proper. Obviously, the social consequences of such a method
of distribution may be far-reaching, since not all societies are as demo-
cratic as the primitive hunters. Whether the redistributing is per-
formed by an influential family or an outstanding individual, a ruling
aristocracy or a group of bureaucrats, they will often attempt to in-
crease their political power by the manner in which they redistribute
the goods. In the potlatch of the Kwakiutl it is a point of honor with the
chief to display his wealth of hides and to distribute them; but he does
this also in order to place the recipients under an obligation, to make
them his debtors, and ultimately, his retainers.
All large-scale economies in kind were run with the help of the
principle of redistribution. The kingdom of Hammurabi in Babylonia
and, in particular, the New Kingdom of Egypt were centralized despo-
tisms of a bureaucratic type founded on such an economy. The house-
hold of the patriarchal family was reproduced here on an enormously
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