Uses and Abuses of the Concept of Total Social Fact
Wendling, Thierry
Uses and Abuses of the Concept of Total Social Fact - 2011.
91
Since Marcel Mauss invented the concept of total social fact in The Gift, it has been used to describe countless social phenomena and the paper questions the relevance of the concept. It is usually used to valorize the subject of the research or to claim an anthropological approach. A rereading of Mauss shows that social morphology was of the greatest importance to him. In his eyes, a total social fact is an event which “athers all the people of a society.” This definition is quite relevant in practical observations but is also problematic when we consider that social identities (among which ethnic identity) are not fixed.
Uses and Abuses of the Concept of Total Social Fact - 2011.
91
Since Marcel Mauss invented the concept of total social fact in The Gift, it has been used to describe countless social phenomena and the paper questions the relevance of the concept. It is usually used to valorize the subject of the research or to claim an anthropological approach. A rereading of Mauss shows that social morphology was of the greatest importance to him. In his eyes, a total social fact is an event which “athers all the people of a society.” This definition is quite relevant in practical observations but is also problematic when we consider that social identities (among which ethnic identity) are not fixed.
Réseaux sociaux