Reciprocity
Reciprocity means simply: giving and taking – mutual regard. At the Kyborg Institute we understand it as the interplay that makes individual good deeds into a carrying togetherness.
What is reciprocity?
Whoever gives something often sets something off: the other gives back – not necessarily at once and not necessarily the same, but in the course of time. Thus arises a cycle of trust and help. In the specialist book on loving-kindness and altruism, Tobias Alke highlights this thought – especially following the sociologist Marcel Mauss, who described giving as something that founds social cohesion.
No cool exchange of goods
Reciprocity is not the exact reckoning of service and return-service. Whoever gives only in order to get back exactly the same is running a business – not showing regard. What is meant is a flow of generosity and trust that is not calculated with a sharp pencil.
Reciprocity strengthens community
In the community that strengthens us this cycle becomes concrete: whoever gives strengthens the surroundings by which they are themselves carried. Thus loving-kindness is not a one-way street, but a giving and taking in which all those involved become more stable.
What does that mean in practice?
- Give without reckoning – trusting in the larger cycle.
- Be able to receive too: taking belongs to it just as much as giving.
- Understand relationships as mutual carrying, not as an exchange.
Frequently asked questions
What does reciprocity mean – simply explained?
Reciprocity is the interplay of giving and taking: I give something, you give something back. Thus arises a cycle of mutual regard that strengthens relationships and community.
Is reciprocity a cool exchange of goods?
No. What is meant is not the exact reckoning of service and return-service, but a flow of trust and regard. The sociologist Marcel Mauss described giving as something that founds social cohesion.
What does reciprocity have to do with loving-kindness?
Whoever gives strengthens the surroundings by which they are themselves carried. Care is not a one-way street, but a cycle in which all those involved become more stable.
Change history · last updated on
- — First English version.
Sources
- Tobias O. R. Alke: Ausgewählte Perspektiven des Altruismus. Eine interdisziplinäre Anregung der Soziologie und ihr Gewicht im Altruismusdiskurs von 1990 bis 2013 im Überblick. Kyborg Institut & Verlag, 2017. ISBN 978-3-96104-027-8.
Autor: Tobias O. R. Alke