This book is the result of more than ten years of research and teaching about the themes of the gift and solidarity. It all started in 1992 when, in conversations with anthropologist Willy Jansen, I was put on the track of the gift literature. This was followed by an invitation from the Dutch newspaper Trouw on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary to conduct a study into gift giving in the Netherlands, together with the sociologist Kees Schuyt. The theme proved not only interesting because of its interdisciplinarity and theoretical richness but also surprisingly mundane and amusing. Suddenly it was less sinking to be asked about “your work”: everybody gives gifts to others, and everybody has something to tell about totally wrong gifts received or about dubious motives to give a gift to another person. During the second half of the 1990s a remarkable development occurred in the political tide in Holland: after having led a hidden existence during several decades, the themes of solidarity and social cohesion suddenly came to be exposed in full daylight. A broadly felt concern about the current state of social cohesion and solidarity in our society gave rise to extensive political and public debate. Policy documents were written and plans were made to counter the perceived threat of a dissolving community and diminished citizenship. Both the Dutch government and the Dutch Council of Scientific Research reserved money for research in the field of social cohesion and solidarity.