Commodification
Encyclopedia
Commodification is the transformation of goods, idea
s, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods into a commodity
.
The Marxist understanding of commodity
is distinct from the meaning of commodity in mainstream business theory
.
The earliest use of the word commodification in English attested in the Oxford English Dictionary
dates from 1975.
Use of the concept of commodification became common with the rise of critical discourse analysis in semiotics
.
For instance, sex becomes a marketed commodity, something to be bought and sold rather than freely given. Human beings can be considered subject to commodification in contexts such as genetic engineering
, social engineering
, cloning
, eugenics
, social Darwinism
, Fascism
, mass marketing
and employment
. An extreme case of commodification is slavery
, where human beings themselves become a commodity to be sold and bought. Similarly, the use of non-human animals for food
, clothing, entertainment, or testing
represents the commodification of other living beings.
extensively criticized the social impact of commodification under the name commodity fetishism
and alienation
.
Commodification is often criticised on the grounds that some things ought not to be for sale and ought not to be treated as if they were a tradeable commodity.
These two concepts are fundamentally different and the business community more commonly uses commoditization to describe the transformation of the market to undifferentiated products through increased competition, typically resulting in decreasing prices. While in economic terms, commoditization is closely related to and often follows from the stage when a market changes from one of monopolistic competition
to one of perfect competition
, a product essentially becomes a commodity when customers perceive little or no value difference between brands or versions.
Commoditization
can be the desired outcome of an entity in the market, or it can be an unintentional outcome that no party actively sought to achieve.
Consumers can benefit from commoditization, since perfect competition usually leads to lower prices. Branded producers often suffer under commoditization, since the value of the brand (and ability to command price premiums) can be weakened.
However, false commoditization can create substantial risk when premier products do have substantial value to offer particularly in health, safety and security. Examples are counterfeit drugs and generic network services (loss of 911).
. Douglas highlighted that the words Commodification and Commoditization were used to describe the two different processes between the assignment of value to a social good and the movement towards undifferentiated competition. Rushkoff's outlined an approach which is closer to the common usages of the words.
Commodification (1975, origins Marxist political theory.) is used to describe the process by which something which does not have an economic value is assigned a value and hence how market values can replace other social values. It describes a modification of relationships, formerly untainted by commerce, into commercial relationships in every day use. This definition is, nonetheless, inherently fallacious as all value is, by definition, assigned rather than inherent and, to the extent that this is true in any context diminishes qualifying definitions of value be they "social" or "economic". The most obvious example of this fallacy is the feminist perceived commodification of sex through prostitution. As an act of physical labour, it has, by any market definition, an assigned value and, by extension, an economic one but, as all value is assigned rather than inherent, this cannot be an act of commodification. In the strictest sense, Marxist "commodification" should only be possible, as a diminuation, with that which cannot actually be traded such as "happiness" or "a sense of humour". The ability to trade or exchange in such things would truly be an abomination that is thematically both typical and common in science fiction literature, for example.
Commoditization
(early 1990s, origins Business theory) is the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from monopolistic to perfect competition.
refers to cultural commodification as "eating the other". By this she means that cultural expressions, revolutionary or post modern, can be sold to the dominant culture. Any messages of social change are not marketed for their messages but used as a mechanism to acquire a piece of the 'primitive'. Any interests in past historical culture almost always have a modern twist. According to Mariana Torgovnick,
hooks states that marginalized groups are seduced by this concept because of "the promise of recognition and reconciliation".
Socialist movements are losing their voices on change because members of the "movement" are not promoting the message but participating in a fashion statement. Activists' hard works are marketable to the masses without accountability. An example of commodification is the colors red, black, and green, which are the colors of the African Liberation Army (ALA). For people of African descent these colors represent red (the innocent bloodshed of Africans), black (African people) and green (stolen land of Africa). These colors are marketed worldwide on all types of apparel and shoes. The colors do not carry the message of the resistance any longer; they are now merely a fashion statement.
Idea
In the most narrow sense, an idea is just whatever is before the mind when one thinks. Very often, ideas are construed as representational images; i.e. images of some object. In other contexts, ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear as images...
s, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods into a commodity
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
.
The Marxist understanding of commodity
Commodity (Marxism)
In classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g...
is distinct from the meaning of commodity in mainstream business theory
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
.
The earliest use of the word commodification in English attested in the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
dates from 1975.
Use of the concept of commodification became common with the rise of critical discourse analysis in semiotics
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
.
Marxist theory
In Marxist political economy, commodification takes place when economic value is assigned to something not previously considered in economic terms; for example, an idea, identity or gender. So commodification refers to the expansion of market trade to previously non-market areas, and to the treatment of things as if they were a tradable commodity.For instance, sex becomes a marketed commodity, something to be bought and sold rather than freely given. Human beings can be considered subject to commodification in contexts such as genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
, social engineering
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
, cloning
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
, eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
, social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
, Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, mass marketing
Mass marketing
Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of marketing of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible...
and employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
. An extreme case of commodification is slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, where human beings themselves become a commodity to be sold and bought. Similarly, the use of non-human animals for food
Animal product
Animal product, or animal by-product, is a term used to describe material taken from the body of a non-human animal. Examples are fat, flesh, blood, milk, eggs, and lesser known products such as isinglass and rennet....
, clothing, entertainment, or testing
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
represents the commodification of other living beings.
Criticism
Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
extensively criticized the social impact of commodification under the name commodity fetishism
Commodity fetishism
In Marx's critique of political economy, commodity fetishism denotes the mystification of human relations said to arise out of the growth of market trade, when social relationships between people are expressed as, mediated by and transformed into, objectified relationships between things .The...
and alienation
Marx's theory of alienation
Marx's theory of alienation , as expressed in the writings of the young Karl Marx , refers to the separation of things that naturally belong together, or to put antagonism between things that are properly in harmony...
.
Commodification is often criticised on the grounds that some things ought not to be for sale and ought not to be treated as if they were a tradeable commodity.
Business and economics
The word commodification which describes assignment of economic value to something not previously considered in economic terms, is sometimes used to describe the transformation of the market for a unique, branded product into a market based on undifferentiated products.These two concepts are fundamentally different and the business community more commonly uses commoditization to describe the transformation of the market to undifferentiated products through increased competition, typically resulting in decreasing prices. While in economic terms, commoditization is closely related to and often follows from the stage when a market changes from one of monopolistic competition
Monopolistic competition
Monopolistic competition is imperfect competition where many competing producers sell products that are differentiated from one another...
to one of perfect competition
Perfect competition
In economic theory, perfect competition describes markets such that no participants are large enough to have the market power to set the price of a homogeneous product. Because the conditions for perfect competition are strict, there are few if any perfectly competitive markets...
, a product essentially becomes a commodity when customers perceive little or no value difference between brands or versions.
Commoditization
Commoditization
Commoditization is the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from...
can be the desired outcome of an entity in the market, or it can be an unintentional outcome that no party actively sought to achieve.
Consumers can benefit from commoditization, since perfect competition usually leads to lower prices. Branded producers often suffer under commoditization, since the value of the brand (and ability to command price premiums) can be weakened.
However, false commoditization can create substantial risk when premier products do have substantial value to offer particularly in health, safety and security. Examples are counterfeit drugs and generic network services (loss of 911).
Commodification and commoditization
The dispute between the terms of commodification (Marxist political theory) and commoditization (business theory) was first highlighted by Douglas RushkoffDouglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...
. Douglas highlighted that the words Commodification and Commoditization were used to describe the two different processes between the assignment of value to a social good and the movement towards undifferentiated competition. Rushkoff's outlined an approach which is closer to the common usages of the words.
Commodification (1975, origins Marxist political theory.) is used to describe the process by which something which does not have an economic value is assigned a value and hence how market values can replace other social values. It describes a modification of relationships, formerly untainted by commerce, into commercial relationships in every day use. This definition is, nonetheless, inherently fallacious as all value is, by definition, assigned rather than inherent and, to the extent that this is true in any context diminishes qualifying definitions of value be they "social" or "economic". The most obvious example of this fallacy is the feminist perceived commodification of sex through prostitution. As an act of physical labour, it has, by any market definition, an assigned value and, by extension, an economic one but, as all value is assigned rather than inherent, this cannot be an act of commodification. In the strictest sense, Marxist "commodification" should only be possible, as a diminuation, with that which cannot actually be traded such as "happiness" or "a sense of humour". The ability to trade or exchange in such things would truly be an abomination that is thematically both typical and common in science fiction literature, for example.
Commoditization
Commoditization
Commoditization is the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from...
(early 1990s, origins Business theory) is the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consumers. It is the movement of a market from differentiated to undifferentiated price competition and from monopolistic to perfect competition.
Cultural Commodification
American author and feminist bell hooksBell hooks
Gloria Jean Watkins , better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, feminist, and social activist....
refers to cultural commodification as "eating the other". By this she means that cultural expressions, revolutionary or post modern, can be sold to the dominant culture. Any messages of social change are not marketed for their messages but used as a mechanism to acquire a piece of the 'primitive'. Any interests in past historical culture almost always have a modern twist. According to Mariana Torgovnick,
"What is clear now is that the West's fascination with the primitive has to do with its own crises in identity, with its own need to clearly demarcate subject and object even while flirting with other ways of experiencing the universe."
hooks states that marginalized groups are seduced by this concept because of "the promise of recognition and reconciliation".
"When the dominant culture demands that the Other be offered as sign that progressive political change is taking place, that the American Dream can indeed be inclusive of difference, it invites a resurgence of essentialist cultural nationalism."
Socialist movements are losing their voices on change because members of the "movement" are not promoting the message but participating in a fashion statement. Activists' hard works are marketable to the masses without accountability. An example of commodification is the colors red, black, and green, which are the colors of the African Liberation Army (ALA). For people of African descent these colors represent red (the innocent bloodshed of Africans), black (African people) and green (stolen land of Africa). These colors are marketed worldwide on all types of apparel and shoes. The colors do not carry the message of the resistance any longer; they are now merely a fashion statement.
“Given this cultural context, Black Nationalism is more a gesture of powerlessness than a sign of critical resistance. Who can take seriously Public Enemy’s insistence that the dominated and their allies “fight the power” when that declaration is in no way linked to the collective organized struggle. When young black people mouth 1960s’ black nationalist rhetoric, don Kente cloth, gold medallions, dread their hair, and diss the white folks they hang out with, they expose the way meaningless commodification strips these signs of political integrity and meaning, denying the possibility that they can serve as a catalyst for concrete political action. As signs, their power to ignite critical consciousness is diffused when they are commodified. Communities of resistance are replaced by communities of consumption.”
See also
- Commodity (Marxism)Commodity (Marxism)In classical political economy and especially Karl Marx's critique of political economy, a commodity is any good or service produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the market. Some other priced goods are also treated as commodities, e.g...
- Exchange valueExchange valueIn political economy and especially Marxian economics, exchange value refers to one of four major attributes of a commodity, i.e., an item or service produced for, and sold on the market...
- CommercializationCommercializationCommercialization is the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development, and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing...
- Commodification of natureCommodification of natureThe commodification of nature is an area of research within critical environmental studies concerned with the ways in which natural entities and processes are made exchangeable through the market, and the implications thereof....
- Value-formValue-formThe value-form or form of value is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of the political economy. It refers to a socially attributed characteristic of a commodity which contrasts with its tangible use-value or utility .The concept is introduced in the first chapter of Das Kapital where Marx argues...