Almost a hundred years have passed since the publication of this now classic text, which still serves as a reference point not only in social anthropology but also in sociology, history, economics, psychology, art theory, and philosophy.

Mauss, exploring the variations of this fundamental institution in various archaic and historical societies through a rigorous and controlled comparative method, shows that the "gift-exchange," as he calls it, is a tool for creating conventional social relationships. The gift is both expressive and instrumental.

The obligation imposed by the exchange of gifts connects people in both positive and negative ways, binding groups and individuals to one another while also ensuring their autonomy. The mutual "obligations-debts" constitute a social fabric, a logically arranged system of communication.

Thus, it presents a model of economy that opposes the ideology of the "economic man." The exchange of gifts in archaic and historical societies represents a "total social phenomenon" that sets in motion the entirety of the institutions of these societies. For Mauss, the gift exists alongside commercial exchanges in both traditional, pre-industrial societies and in today's societies, even if in the latter it is considered to play a secondary role.

The current radical distinction between gift and commodity is a later development of capitalist societies. In the final chapter, Mauss turns his attention to the political dimension of the gift, highlighting the ethics of the gift (offering-acceptance-repayment), mutuality, and solidarity as "...the foundation upon which the ethics of exchange-gift is built. Towards this very system, of course allowing for analogies, we would like our own society to be directed." In this way, he opens the discussion on what we today call "moral economy."