TY - BOOK ID - 77861019 TI - Inalienable possessions PY - 1992 SN - 0585108552 0520911806 1282356062 9786612356063 9780520911802 9780585108551 0520076036 0520076044 9781282356061 9780520076044 9780520076037 PB - Berkeley University of California Press DB - UniCat KW - Ceremonial exchange KW - Women KW - Economic anthropology KW - Feminist anthropology KW - Feminist ethnography KW - Feminist ethnology KW - Anthropology KW - Commerce, Primitive KW - Economics, Primitive KW - Economics KW - Ethnology KW - Human females KW - Wimmin KW - Woman KW - Womon KW - Womyn KW - Females KW - Human beings KW - Femininity KW - Gift exchange KW - Exchange KW - Rites and ceremonies KW - Economic conditions. KW - Social conditions. KW - Methodology. KW - Ceremonial exchange - Oceania KW - Women - Oceania - Economic conditions KW - Women - Oceania - Social conditions KW - Economic anthropology - Oceania - Methodology KW - Feminist anthropology - Oceania KW - aboriginal. KW - academic. KW - ancestry. KW - anthropology. KW - australia. KW - cultural anthropology. KW - culture. KW - economics. KW - economy. KW - feminism. KW - feminist. KW - finance. KW - gender issues. KW - gender studies. KW - gift giving. KW - giving gifts. KW - identity. KW - international. KW - kinship. KW - marriage. KW - money. KW - oceania. KW - papua new guinea. KW - political. KW - politics. KW - polynesia. KW - possessions. KW - power. KW - property. KW - research. KW - sacred. KW - scholarly. KW - social studies. KW - western history. KW - womens issues. KW - world history. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77861019 AB - Inalienable Possessions tests anthropology's traditional assumptions about kinship, economics, power, and gender in an exciting challenge to accepted theories of reciprocity and marriage exchange. Focusing on Oceania societies from Polynesia to Papua New Guinea and including Australian Aborigine groups, Annette Weiner investigates the category of possessions that must not be given or, if they are circulated, must return finally to the giver. Reciprocity, she says, is only the superficial aspect of exchange, which overlays much more politically powerful strategies of "keeping-while-giving. "The idea of keeping-while-giving places women at the heart of the political process, however much that process may vary in different societies, for women possess a wealth of their own that gives them power. Power is intimately involved in cultural reproduction, and Weiner describes the location of power in each society, showing how the degree of control over the production and distribution of cloth wealth coincides with women's rank and the development of hierarchy in the community. Other inalienable possessions, whether material objects, landed property, ancestral myths, or sacred knowledge, bestow social identity and rank as well. Calling attention to their presence in Western history, Weiner points out that her formulations are not limited to Oceania. The paradox of keeping-while-giving is a concept certain to influence future developments in ethnography and the theoretical study of gender and exchange. ER -