gift economy
Sharing without tallying
A gift economy is a system where goods and services circulate through giving rather than buying and selling.
Unlike market economies based on exchange, gift economies build social bonds through generosity and reciprocity—gifts create obligations and relationships rather than completing transactions.
Traditional potlatch ceremonies exemplify gift economy principles.
The concept appears in anthropology, communal living, and open-source software communities.
Shared community resources
- collectiveJointly organized group
- communal ownershipJoint holding by many
- tribal customsGroup's inherited social practices
- social bondsConnections uniting group members
solidarity · cooperation · barn raising · cooperative · potluck · food sharing · tool library · skill sharing
Cooperative community support
- potlatchCeremonial wealth distribution gathering
- give and takeMutual concession between parties
- social debtOwed reciprocity for kindness
- feastingEating sumptuously together
redistribution · tribute · moral obligation · interdependence
Readiness to give freely
- philanthropyGenerous giving for others
- charityVoluntary aid for others
- benevolenceDisposition toward doing good
- selflessnessPrioritizing others over oneself
giving · donation · volunteerism · kindness · benefaction · patronage · magnanimity · largesse
Direct goods-for-goods exchange
- cashlessNot using physical money
- moneylessHaving no wealth
- unpaid laborWork done without payment
- domestic laborWork maintaining a home
commons
Shared community resources
- collectiveJointly organized group
- communal ownershipJoint holding by many
- tribal customsGroup's inherited social practices
social bonds · solidarity · cooperation · barn raising · cooperative · potluck · food sharing · tool library · skill sharing · ubuntu
mutual aid
Cooperative community support
- potlatchCeremonial wealth distribution gathering
- give and takeMutual concession between parties
- social debtOwed reciprocity for kindness
feasting · redistribution · tribute · moral obligation · interdependence
generosity
Readiness to give freely
- philanthropyGenerous giving for others
- charityVoluntary aid for others
- benevolenceDisposition toward doing good
selflessness · giving · donation · volunteerism · kindness · benefaction · patronage · magnanimity · largesse · hospitality
barter
Direct goods-for-goods exchange
- cashlessNot using physical money
- moneylessHaving no wealth
- unpaid laborWork done without payment
- Exchangeexchange, barter, swap, trade-in, trade-off
- anthropologyanthropology, fieldwork, ethnography, social anthropology, cultural anthropology
- economic systemscapitalism, mercantilism, communism, feudalism, socialism
- Indigenous Tradebartering, trade networks, trade goods, salt trade, regional trade
- informal economiesbarter, bartering, swap, trade networks, barter systems
- mutual aidteamwork, helping, sharing, lending, cooperation
gift economymarket economy
Commerce-based economic system
cash economy · barter economy · commodity exchange · capitalism · free market
gift economyprofit motive
Drive to earn money
rent-seeking · hoarding · mercantilism · consumerism · commodity fetishism
gift, gifted, gifts, economy, economic, economical, economics, gifting, economize