[philh]

ESR wrote a little about gift economies in either The Cathedral and the Bazaar or one of its sequels, IIRC. I think the gist was that if resources are abundant, a person's status becomes determined more by what they give away than by what they own.

This doesn't sound quite the same, but similar. As one of the commenters points out, the economy is self-selecting, which helps.

[neilk]

ESR knows very little about real gift economies. It's not always about abundance. In potlatch culture in the Pacific Northwest, originally the gifts had as much symbolic as practical value. The introduction of Western-style abundance actually ruined the whole system. See Lewis Hyde's The Gift for a much more thorough treatment, particularly the first two chapters.

As for Burning Man, it makes no sense to call it an "economy" when there is no scarcity. Every participant, with a few exceptions, has brought everything they need for survival in the desert for a week. Due to the nature of the event, few people are seeking luxuries.

Gifts at Burning Man are more about creating a mutually wonderful experience. Sometimes they take physical form, but more often the donation is directly related to experience -- art, performance, or a heightened generosity of spirit. This is not very much different from the change of attitude one might have at a potluck dinner, a block party, or a large rock concert where the fans feel themselves to be part of a particular subculture.

[zaius]

The funny thing is, resources are extremely limited once you're there - you only have what you brought with you. The difference between the start and end of the week is especially noticeable with quality things like good alcohol. I think it has more to do with 20 years of gifting culture, and the kind of people that attend.