Reintroducing Marcel Mauss

Book excerpt: This reintroduction to the life and work of Marcel Mauss highlights his coherent and original thought both as an academic and an engaged intellectual of his time. Since his work regained attention in social sciences in the later 20th century, Reintroducing Marcel Mauss also emphasises the progression of research on Mauss’s thought, bringing to light various neglected aspects of his scientific project, including his political commitment and writings. With a review of the contemporary research on Mauss’s legacy, it offers a fuller understanding of the questions with which he was concerned – questions which converged in the challenge of working out alternative ways for a social life that promotes a genuinely social society inspired by socialist and cooperative values. It will therefore appeal to scholars of sociology and anthropology with interests in the history and development of sociology, and the contemporary importance of classical social theory.