started by feminist philosopher Alessandra Bocchetti. After attending summer semiotics institutes at the University of Urbino for several years, she introduced a feminist element in 1982, organizing a women's group and presenting a paper about care as non-sign human communication. By starting with gifting as communication, Vaughan arrived at a different take on the Gift Economy than other philosophers. She took issue with Belgian Luce Irigaray on the subject of exchange of women, instead taking the gift nature of women’s free labour in the home as the starting point for a generalized theory. Of Marcel Mauss, Vaughan writes "The insistence upon reciprocity hides the communicative character of simple giving and receiving without reciprocity and does not allow [Mauss's followers] to make a clear distinction between giftgiving and exchange as two opposing paradigms." In 1983, when The Gift by Lewis Hyde was published, Vaughan was not in accord with his emphasis on obligation, reciprocation, and gratitude, instead emphasizing the role of needs as a coequal component. Where Hyde defines "a true gift" as based on "gratitude", Vaughan describes a true gift as one that satisfies a need. In 1987, Vaughan began writing her first book, which would be titled For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange. It would be a decade before it was finished and published, as other activities came increasingly to the fore. Practice of Gift Economy In 1980, Vaughan hired her cousin Frances Farenthold, a former Texas legislator, gubernatorial candidate and president of Wells College, to help her embark on a course of socially effective giving from her personal fortune. Returning to the US in 1983, Vaughan began to acquaint herself with a wide range of women’s and feminist activities related to peace, culture, and economics. She developed supportive and collaborative relationships with many women activists, both unknown and well known. Peace Activism In 1984, Vaughan, Farenthold and Sonia Johnson started organizing the Feminist International for Peace and Food. In collaboration with the venerable Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), FIPF developed a Peace Tent to be held at the United Nations third World Conference on Women in Nairobi, Kenya. Vaughan convened and funded preparatory meetings for this project in Texas and in Rome. Among those in attendance were Bella Abzug, Robin Morgan, and Marilyn Waring. Video of the Peace Tent shows the process in which women from enemy countries were brought together to hold face to