Last Word: gift

We all love a present. But, this season, spare a moment to consider the many greater social goods that come from giving.

When I make something for my family, I put love in – by taking my time to create something special just for them. Equally, I appreciate when someone has bought a present for me that speaks of our relationship. It is the silent understanding that counts. 

A century ago, in 1924, Marcel Mauss argued that gifts contain a spirit or ‘Hau’. For him, this spirit was the obligation to make a return gesture, but not something to be understood simply as a debt. Mauss saw gift exchange as, on balance, a positive social process, bringing communities together and generating trade. 

In 2025, I want us to have the courage to celebrate the role of the gift exchange in our communities. By ‘us’, I mean those involved in the service, manufacturing and retail industries, not-for-profits and charities, education, and bodies such as the RSA. 

Just think of the multiple ways gift-giving impacts and surrounds us every day. Presents are exchanged as part of rituals to celebrate ‘rites of passage’. They mark seasons, travels, achievements, movement through life’s different stages. Giving builds a sense of belonging and goodwill and encourages the funding of good causes. 

Powerful bodies display their status and wealth by what they choose to give. To avoid corruption from gift-giving, we have laws and ethical codes; we lampoon those who bend the rules by being ostentatious in their generosity or who are ungracious in their receipt of gifts – they are not acting in the right spirit. Some might claim that gifts are unnecessary and wasteful, but our antique shops and museums tell a different story. They are full of artefacts created to be given and made only more valuable when their provenance and the story behind their creation are known.