This post is a synopsis of a political and cultural discussion, on the gift economy, that took place in Dublin last week as part of an ongoing series called The Talking Shop Session organised by The Campaign for Old City Arts Building, Dublin Housing Action and the Provisional University.

This talking shop explored non-market relations, in the form of gift/reciprocal exchange as a means of moving away from social interaction conditioned by the logic of the market and monetary gain. The giving of a gift, which need not be material but can be a contribution to a group, creates an obligation for reciprocation with the receiver being expected to return something of equal or greater value later on. This doesn’t mean that it becomes about self-interest rather it can lead to the construction of a social fabric of relationships, between people who in other cirumstances would not have interacted. Two questions we will explore are, To what extent do social movements use reciprocal exchange ? and, Is it possible to escape from the colonisation of market imperatives?

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