Relying on contemporary immigrant, migrant, and ethnic autobiographies, this essay deals with a crucial aspect of the gift economy, namely the dynamics of giving and receiving under the negative biopolitical condition of being treated as an alien in an often hostile culture. While I am interested in the notions of gratitude, indebtedness, and the obligation to reciprocate that obtains between parents and children and benefactors and their wards, I also focus on the shifting forms of sovereignty that they provide. In the next section I will glance at Japanese-American autobiographies in order to discuss the creative ways in which this ethnic group responded to the harsh and extremely humiliating conditions of the detainment camps during World War II; and will present examples from other ethnic groups to suggest ways in which the gift economy works to shore up people's communal sovereignty in a way that complements mere democratic citizenship. © 2005 Taylor & Francis.

Gift economy Marcel Mauss Georges Bataille Sacred life biopolitics sovereignty

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