ABSTRACT
Existing work has examined how the practice of gift-giving between members of a society, as described by Mauss' in The Gift, can be extended to the study of international relations (IR). Gift-giving in international society is similarly not seen to be motivated by altruism, but by self-interest to demonstrate solidarity or to establish friendly relations with another state. Graeber elaborated on Mauss' view regarding the diverse motivations governing gift-giving, by positing three moral grounds: communism, exchange and hierarchy. While reciprocity is a key trope in The Gift, Graeber suggests that reciprocity is particularly emphasized in the moral ground of exchange but not in communism and hierarchy. This chapter seeks to adopt a similar approach to discussing how Graeber's moral grounds can be extended to the study of IR, while remaining cognizant that the moral grounds for gift-giving frequently coexist and demonstrate thus.
