Total Social Fact

In our manuscript on Peer to Peer Theory, we argue that peer to peer is a 'Total Social Fact'.

Background

"A total social fact [fait social total] is "an activity that has implications throughout society, in the economic, legal, political, and religious spheres." (Sedgewick 2002: 95) "Diverse strands of social and psychological life are woven together through what he [Mauss] comes to call 'total social facts'. A total social fact is such that it informs and organises seemingly quite distinct practices and institutions." (Edgar 2002:157) The term was popularized by Marcel Mauss in his The Gift and coined by his student Maurice Leenhardt after Durkheim." (http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Total_social_fact )

References

Bibliographic sources used for the definition are 1) Sedgewick, Peter (2002). Cultural Theory: The Key Concepts, Routledge Key Guides Series. Routledge: 2) Edgar, Andrew (2002). Cultural Theory: The Key Thinkers, Routledge Key Guides Series. Routledge.