Alan Fowler/The Conversation For many countries around the world, December is an intense, commercialized period of gift-giving. Not just within families but across all sorts of relationships, such as gifts between buyers and service providers. Gift-giving, the act of presenting someone with a gift is intended to convey thoughtfulness, appreciation, or goodwill. The gift can be a tangible item, experience, personal time or gesture. It’s an age-old tradition found across cultures and societies, carrying various meanings and functions that help shape human relationships. I’m the university chair in African philanthropy at the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment at Wits Business School in South Africa. The center is Africa’s first and only place of scholarship, teaching and research in
