Here I offer a challenge to some of the theoretical truisms that have developed concerning gift exchange, which has been a topic of scholarly debate for almost a century. Much discussion has focussed on how giving creates obligations and increases the power of the giver. Taking the case of the Lelet of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, I examine how people use magic to usurp the agency of the giver, thus forcing them to give through ‘coercive exchange’. Magic, I argue, has the capacity to upend how obligation is understood to operate. People give, not because of the customary social obligation, but because magic has been used to extract their wealth.

中文翻译：

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强制交换：美拉尼西亚社会中的魔法、代理和礼物

在这里，我对一些有关礼物交换的理论不言而喻提出了挑战，这一直是近一个世纪以来学术争论的话题。许多讨论都集中在给予如何产生义务并增强给予者的权力。以巴布亚新几内亚新爱尔兰的莱莱特为例，我研究了人们如何使用魔法来篡夺给予者的代理权，从而迫使他们通过“强制交换”进行给予。我认为，魔法有能力颠覆人们对义务运作方式的理解。人们给予，不是因为习惯性的社会义务，而是因为魔法被用来榨取他们的财富。