Reciprocity: A Fragile Equilibrium

Abstract

Reciprocity may serve to explain or to justify law. In its latter capacity, which is the topic of this article, reciprocity is commonly turned into a highly idealized notion, as either a balance between two free and equal parties or as the possibility of communication tout court. Both ideals lack empirical reference. If sociological and anthropological literature on forms of exchange is taken into account, it should be acknowledged that reciprocal relations are easy to destabilize. The dynamics of exchange invites to exclusion and inequality. For this reason reciprocity should not be presupposed as the normative underpinning of law, but law should be presupposed in order to turn reciprocity into a desirable ideal.

Keywords: reciprocity, exchange-theory, natural law theory, dyadic relations, corrective justice.