Chapter Prolusione

Abstract

The rejection of barter outside of monetised exchanges goes hand in hand with an apprehension of this practice as a ‘primitive’ mode of exchange, and proclaims the 'modernity of money'. At the heart of monetary economies, however, payment in kind coexists with other forms of exchange, such as gifts, exchange, credit, formalised trade and the monetised exchange of goods. The aim of this prolusion is to show that anthropology's re-reading of the practices of barter, exchange and payment in kind provides conceptual tools that enable historians to take stock of the spread and importance of these economic practices. It looks first at the coexistence of barter and money, before examining the diversity of forms taken by payment in kind and its areas of application.