I outline a relational economy model that is broadly applicable to a range of economies both past and present. A relational economy begins from the basic premise that all economic transactions are social and interpersonal relations. I apply this model to reciprocal gift economies, specifically the Classic Maya of Mesoamerica (ca. AD 250–850). For my case study, I present evidence from archaeological contexts including the Bonampak murals and hieroglyphic texts to show how marriage and war were in many instances paired acts, simultaneously dissolving former alliances and cementing new social relations. Prestige goods including cacao (chocolate), jade, feathers, and cotton mantles were exchanged in both marriages and warfare. I show how marriage partners, captives, and prestige goods were not objectified in these reciprocal exchanges but were gendered and personified (human and nonhuman) beings. I present a posthumanist approach to a relational economy and suggest that prestige goods are perhaps best understood as relational beings or persons that were mutually constituted and generative. From a relational perspective, these transactions did not embed the social into the economic but were inherently emotional and interpersonal transactions and, therefore, simultaneously social and economic relations in ancient Maya society.

中文翻译：

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互赠的关系经济学

我概述了一个广泛适用于过去和现在的一系列经济体的关系经济模型。关系经济始于所有经济交易都是社会和人际关系的基本前提。我将此模型应用于互惠礼物经济，特别是中美洲的经典玛雅（约公元 250-850 年）。在我的案例研究中，我提供了来自考古背景的证据，包括 Bonampak 壁画和象形文字文本，以表明婚姻和战争在许多情况下是如何配对的，同时解散了以前的联盟并巩固了新的社会关系。包括可可（巧克力）、玉石、羽毛和棉披风在内的声望物品在婚姻和战争中都可以交换。我展示了婚姻伙伴、俘虏、在这些互惠交换中，声望商品没有被物化，而是被性别化和人格化的（人类和非人类）存在。我提出了一种对关系经济的后人文主义方法，并建议最好将声望商品理解为相互构成和生成的关系存在或人。从关系的角度来看，这些交易并没有将社会嵌入经济，而是内在的情感和人际交易，因此同时也是古代玛雅社会的社会和经济关系。