Under Wraps
Drawing from Carrier’s discussion of wrapping gifts as emblematic of gift exchange in what Mauss would’ve called complex societies, I think figures concerning Christmas waste – particularly that consisting of wrapping paper and cards – poses interesting questions about (conflicting) values involved in decommodifying purchased gifts.
http://www.housebeautiful.co.uk/lifestyle/news/a1158/uk-christmas-waste-revealed/
There is a suggestion that the inscription of personality, be it through a hand-written note or carefully tied bow, can bring mass-produced, impersonal consumer goods into the realm of gift, but is there a cost involved? Gifts can be interpreted as representations of relationships and statements about which people ought to exchange, and to what extent; the gift-object itself is not free from these moral contexts either. The social awareness and altruism that is associated with ideal gifts could extend into feelings of responsibility or obligation in another ecological arena. Will we see a time when putting glittery paper around a present will lead to it being deemed slightly worse, or will the ritual nature of Christmas presents safeguard their presentation? After all, a number of articles about the dangers and pollutant excesses of fireworks are published annually and the practice endures – being green may be suspended for a bit of sparkle.
Contributed by EveliinaKuitunen on 15/01/2018
One response to “Under Wraps”
I like the way you point at the tension between social obligation and gifting and people’s lack of responsibility/respect towards the environment. This is something that I became acutely aware off while living in Japan where most people recognize the importance of maintaining social networks but environmental issues are often ignored. Of course, this raises larger questions about people’s understandings of and relationships with nature in different cultural contexts, which in turn can be traces to whether we conceptualise the natural environment as separate from culture, social/human life.