%0 Journal Article
%T The Gift of the Godfather:  Money and Reciprocity in Spiritual Kinship Relations in Transylvania
%A Monica Vasile
%J Journal of Family History
%@ 1552-5473
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0363199017738175
%X Based on a large array of sources, from ethnographic fieldwork to Internet discussion forums and archive surveys, this article traces complex gift-giving practices between godparents and godchildren, as they developed and thrived in the region of Transylvania, Romania, from the 1950s onward. I examine, in particular, the monetization of gifts in connection to recent turning points in economic history. Through various case studies, I show how godparenthood relates to notions of calculation, exchange, obligation, debt, care, and charity. The findings suggest a tension at the heart of godparenthood narrative and practice, a tension with many interrelated facets, between exchange and charity, between calculation and solidarity, self-interest, and care. This tension emerges in everyday talk and lived experiences of Romanians and also in broader anthropological discussions about the possibility of altruistic gift and the pitfalls of reciprocity
%K godparenthood
%K spiritual kinship
%K reciprocity
%K gift-giving practices
%K money
%K baptism
%K wedding
%K economic anthropology
%K Romania
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0363199017738175