GENDERED LABOR DIVISION IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF LATVIA THROUGH THE LENS OF GIFTS AND RECIPROCITY

This article explores the concepts of 'gift's and 'reciprocity' within anthropological literature and applies them to ethnographic fieldwork conducted within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia. In interviews, pastors and members of parishes used the word 'gift' to rationalize gender differences in performed tasks and assumed inherent abilities of men and women. The article aims to investigate the variety of reciprocity that takes place when informants refer to the idea of the 'gift' in various social contexts. Through qualitative interviews, analysis highlights that the gendered labor division in managing the 'household' of a parish is tied to a sense of identity and belonging, and the term 'gift' helps to shape the ideological framework within which traditional understanding of gendered roles can be perpetuated.