Hostageship
What can we learn from Mauss
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12923477 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ariel Colonomos (0000-0003-3317-7366, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 240-256 |
| Publication date | 2018-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of International Political Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1755-0882 • E-ISSN: 1755-1722 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1755088217751513 |
| OpenAlex | W2782415826 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 24 |
Hostages have become an important political and security issue in the context of conflicts in the Middle East and in Africa. The work of Marcel Mauss helps us to shed a new light on this phenomenon, which today is portrayed in negative terms as a major violation of fundamental universal rights such as the right to liberty. In The Gift, however, Mauss refers to the granting of hostages as “acts of generosity.” In line with Mauss’ approach, I consider hostageship as a “total social phenomenon,” combining politics, law, and economics, in both domestic and global settings, which reveals structural political and social questions that need to be addressed. The article highlights the role that hostages fulfilled as “gifts” in premodern international relations when hostages were granted and not taken as they are today. I underline the role they notably performed as elements of proto-diplomacy. I show the reasons why the function of hostages has changed over time by underlining the importance of the later Middle Ages as a transitional moment. Finally, I discuss the issue of contemporary hostageship from a normative perspective, arguing along with Mauss, against an interest-based utilitarian vision of hostageship and in favor of a solidarist approach to hostage crises
Context (archaeology · Diplomacy · Economics · Epistemology · Generosity · International relations · Law and economics · Normative · Phenomenon · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · African Studies and Geopolitics · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Philosophy
Stoic Warriors
De Officiis
The logic of images in international relations.
Politics and Culture in International History
A Theory of Justice
The Gift
Accountability for Killing
Empires
Westphalia, Authority, and International Society
The Persistent myth of lost hegemony
Hostage Posting as a Mechanism of Trust
The Anarchical Society
Soft Power
The gift as colonial ideology? Marcel Mauss and the solidarist colonial policy in the interwar era
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |