A Reciprocal Gift Economy: The Serviceberry

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer, is a popular and delightful book that promotes the idea of a reciprocal gift economy. I included the Gift Economy concept as part of the Circular Commons image in Imagining After Capitalism. [I used Charles Eisenstein’s Sacred Gift economy in the book.] I think we are going to see a lot more about gift economies as we move down the path to After Capitalism … because it is a great concept. It is going to take some time for the cynics to get past the impracticality of it, but we know that we’re in for a long journey.

The author approaches the concept from an indigenous perspective centered around the ideas of the Serviceberry, a calendar plant that blooms to seasonal weather patterns and sets the tone for surrounding life. We get a key concept from the relationship between the Serviceberry and indigenous peoples. Instead of changing the land to suit their timetable or convenience, they change their own patterns to adapt to the land. This is a stark contrast to today we demand that food come to us, no matter how costly and impractical. We’ve chosen to conquer nature rather than be in harmony with it. You know the story.

So how could it be different? The author puts forward a simple but powerful ideas. When we speak of what nature provides as commodities, it leads to one path of transactions, where feel no connection. But if we think of them as gifts, it leads us down another path, where we feel gratitude, reciprocity and a feeling of relationship and connection.

The current of a gift economy is not money and transactions but gratitude and reciprocity. It’s not about exchange for equality of value. It about accepting and giving … a capitalist might say “paying it forward”😊. Think of gift economies as systems of exchange in which goods and services circulate without explicit expectations of direct compensation.  In the author’s version, the Serviceberry Economy, the gift from the Serviceberry tree is spread around, with a dish of berries to a neighbor, who makes a pie to share with his friend, who is inspired to volunteer at a food pantry. It’s building a society … not an economy.

Sure, it sounds impractical in today’s consumer-driven, transactional context. A simple counter is “look where practicality has got us!” We are looking for something else. An image of a future worth working for. I love this concept and look forward to diving deeper into gift economy ideas as I travel down the road to After Capitalism. – Andy Hines