#expectedreciprocity

[gwanth1002]

Pure gift is defined as something given with no expectation or thought of a return. In the textbook, some people argue that it does not exist because there must be some gains through the gift-giving action. The photo is the invitation of Chinese Embassy to a Charity Dinner on February 8th. Those people who are in the dinner donate a significant amount of money and discuss how to eliminate extreme poverty in China. It is true that they could gain something through the dinner—reputation, feelings of generosity, and network. While I do not think it is contradictory to the definition of pure gift. For those who are used to devoting in charity, they have no expectations or thoughts of a return--they also have experienced the feelings of generosity enough through previous activities. The only reason for them to keep donation is the wish for the world being better, the wish for a desirable future for those children who live in extreme poverty in China. Their pure motivation cannot be judged by those who are so pessimistic about the world.

Different from the pure gift, expected reciprocity is defined as an exchange of approximately equally valued goods or services, usually between people roughly equal in social status. I took this photo at Ambassador’s Spring Festival Reception. Note that all the lights appearing in the photo are donated by one Chinese person who runs the business at Washington, DC. It is not likely for him to have the wish for the embassy to be better—as discussed above. There must be some other reasons for him to donate. In the textbook, it said that returns were expected sometime. The return of donation of lights may not appear as long as he donated, while it must somehow help the person to gain the network within the embassy, and get more connections through actively participating the activities of the embassy. The people in the reception exactly perform the Chinese culture suggests: they greet each other, talk a little bit about something involved in daily life, and then they start talking about how they can cooperate to gain some benefits/profits in the coming year. The embassy created the perfect platform for expected reciprocity.

[gwanth1002]

Key Concepts: Pure Gift & Expected Reciprocity

The two pictures above display two different kinds of gifts and have two different connotations. The one on the left is a gift given to me by my mother, and I consider it a pure gift. She sent it as a surprise pick-me-up gift, and I don’t think she expects me to balance this exchange send her a care package back. However, as the reading points out, in parental care perhaps what she unconsciously expects me to return is something immaterial, likely in the form of keeping up my grades. As long as I continue to fulfill my end of the unspoken deal of staying out of trouble and living up to her expectations, she’ll continue to lovingly provide me with such gifts. Furthermore, as a long term repayment, I may be expected to take care of her in the future to pay for everything she had done for me. Though, I find this to be a pure gift as well because when that time comes I do believe I would take care of her out of wanting to, not out of repayment. 

The picture on the right is an example of expected reciprocity. It is another Valentine’s Day gift, bought by me and to be given to my significant other. Although the textbook says that an exchange between people who know each other well is more so a generalized reciprocity, I think the timeliness of our exchange makes it more of an expected reciprocity. We both had an (albeit unspoken) understanding that we would exchange gifts some time this week due to the holiday. However, unlike what the textbook outlines, I do not think that our relationship will fall apart if one person neglects to give the other an equally valuable gift. Though if it does so happen that my gift is not at the same level as his, I may imitate the Melanesia kula exchange in that my gift will become intermediary. I then would later follow up with a “clinching gift” (Miller 117) in order to balance the exchange.