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Accepted Paper:

Moving between gift and commodity: The ritualization of cosmetics exchange among Slovak women  
Elena Sims Fejdi (University of East London)

Paper short abstract:

In this paper I explore how cosmetics move from the sphere of commodity exchange into the sphere of gift-like valuables through the process of ritualization.

Paper long abstract:

In the environment of direct sales cosmetics collectives of women in contemporary Slovakia created and maintained their morality of sharing through re-contextualizing cosmetics into ritual valuables. Through collective cosmetic rituals cosmetics purchasers and representatives alike adopted a number of strategies by which they transformed the purely monetary commodity transactions and competition for profits into collectivising gift-like exchange that was invested with meanings of a morality of cooperation and commitment to the collective. By means of such ritualized re-contextualization of cosmetics ritual participants secured their equal distribution. Consequently, the collectively sanctioned shared distribution of cosmetics operated as one of the levelling mechanisms within the ritually established female collectives.

I use the concepts of spheres of exchange (Bohannan, 1955; Sillitoe, 2006), transactional orders (Parry, Bloch, 1989) and ritualization (Dissanayake 2009) to interpret the re-contextualization of cosmetics and the morality of their exchange. I focus on the practices that the ritual participants used to demonstrate their commitment to their collective. I show that collectivized ritual distribution of cosmetics is one of the means that facilitates and maintains the egalitarian relationships among the ritually bonded cosmetic purchasers.

Instead of seeing purchasing of cosmetics as an individualistic competitive practice this paper shows their collectivising and levelling potential once they have become gift-like valuables.

In my presentation I first discuss the strategies of ritual re-contextualization adopted by the cosmetics purchasers. Then I look at the morality of the collective gift-like exchange of cosmetics. Finally, I show how this morality is regularly tested in collective cosmetic rituals.

Panel MV15
Mobility and Materiality
  Session 1 Tuesday 15 September, 2020, -