The Gift and Open Science. Issue 1 (1st December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Egbert, Henrik
• Is Part Of: Durkheimian studies. Volume 25:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 187
• Page End: 203
• Publication Date: 2021-12-01
• Subjects: anthropology of science -- gift -- Marcel Mauss -- open science -- scientific competition -- reciprocity; Durkheimian school of sociology -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.3167/ds.2021.250108
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-2307

Abstract

Abstract: This article illustrates how social structures and behaviours of scientists in the societal sub-system of open science resemble patterns analysed in The Gift, an essay written by Marcel Mauss nearly 100 years ago. The presented analysis goes beyond existing interpretations of gift-giving in science. The latter has mainly focussed on the exchange of knowledge and citations. I argue that The Gift explains also identity, competition, co-opetition, rituals and punishment. Mauss's Gift is seen as a complementary model to existing economic and sociological approaches regularly used to analyse structures and behaviours in open science. By accentuating such an anthropological approach, I conclude that the Gift provides explanations for the stability and the expansion of the open science community.