Abstract

The starting point of this chapter’s contribution is the thesis that in the Anthropocene, it has become problematic for sociology to concentrate solely on human societies. The ontological separation of nature and society on which sociology is based upon has to be overcome, though taking into account the differences between life and matter. Abiotic entities have no capacity for subjectivity, intentions, feelings or symbolic communication—in contrast to the domain of agency of life. Based on this, a generalized theory of gifts, concepts of conviviality as well as interspecies cooperation (symbiosis) are to be advanced, which will lead sociology in new directions. The aim is to develop a multi-species theory of gift, which makes it possible to understand what it means to recognize non-human beings as givers, in the sense of alliances between human and non-human beings. Sociologically, symbiosis is therefore the term used to describe a cooperative coexistence across species. Symbiosis forms a subcategory of conviviality as a minimal form of a succeeding sociality, which in turn is based on gift relationships.