Description
Recording of Darya Ziborova’s lecture ‘Gift and Recognition: An Anthropological Dimension’, held as part of the Dialogues Online project on October 12, 2026.
What is society built upon? Economic ties, ideology, and even values are not the foundation of society—they are its result. What precedes them and binds people together into communities? In other words, simply put—what connects one human being to others? A rather unexpected answer to this question can be found in cultural anthropology, where the concept of the gift as the foundation and condition of any human community emerged in the 20th century. And these are not gifts given out of kindness or charity—they are something far more fundamental. The concept of ritual or sacred gifts, as explored by anthropologists (B. Malinowski, M. Moss, M. Enaff), raises questions about the structure of our modern societies and offers a glimpse into the underlying reasons for their formation and functioning. And the main question is: where in modern society, in a situation of war, are those gifts that are the prerequisite for human interaction and openness, and how can we recognize them? This discussion will focus specifically on the criteria and characteristics of sacred gifts, as well as an analysis of how they function.
Darya Ziborova is a culturologist, philosopher, Egyptologist. Candidate of Philosophy, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
Duration: 2:00
