Exchange and Sociability in the Mutual Aid Networks in La Ventilla Neighborhood of Madrid

Abstract

We analyzed the logic of informal exchanges on three personal networks of Madrid's La Ventilla neighborhood to understand its relationship with sociability during an economic crisis. Trust and the obligation to reciprocate constitute a dynamic and multifunctional logic of the gift that allows for a social base that is stronger than other types of exchange, although not without confl icts. The long term evolution of this dynamic can be explained with a simplifi ed qualitative model that considers the processes of dyadic sociability-exchange, trust and collective sociability. To conclude, we propose an approach based on the logic of reciprocity to overcome the dichotomy between selfishness and altruism that underlies the now dominant logic of solidarity