Commodification
Part of Marx's argument was that capitalism leads people to think of themselves as being commodities to be advertised, bought and sold. Have you ever felt like a commodity? If so, what does this experience do to you? Is this unique to capitalism, or is it just as commonly found in socialist, communist etc. societies?
The process of commodifying and structuring people to think of themselves as commodities through institutions such as schools, work, etc., could be argued as becoming present, or more obvious, with the spike of capitalism during and, subsequently after, the Industrial Revolution. However, I personally don’t agree with the notion that it’s unique to capitalism but rather to all societies including communist and socialist ones. While there could be argued to be some validity in Marx’s arguments concerning the working class and commodifying themselves that can still be applied today such as the idea of ‘selling yourself’ in the form CV’s. Encouragement to take classes on how to affectively sell yourself could be said to line up with Marxist ideas of a trodden down working class inside a capitalist system where all they have to sell is their labour.
ReplyDeleteTo say commodification is unique to capitalism would be an oversight. I’d think you’d be hard pressed to find a communist or socialist country that doesn’t view its people in terms of the value and work they can get out of them to keep themselves, and the state, running with their political beliefs as long as possible. Although commodification is seen as unpleasant and, depending to the extreme, immoral, it can be argued to simply be apart of how societies function and how human beings view each other. In order for societies to succeed on any level work must be put in and often divided up. People’s worth is decided and weighed for set tasks and positions in order to get anything done at all. Likewise, with relationships of all kinds it wouldn’t be unfair to say people weigh up the pros and cons provided by said relationship or what they can offer others. While this isn’t strictly a Marxist definition of commodity, it is a way people commodify each other perhaps even unconsciously.
To feel like a commodity is to lose ones self identity, however all of society is part of some sort of commodity, be that through work, school, a religious group or a particular social circle. Commodification as purely dominated by capitalism is null and void, in my opinion. Yes capitalism does have an impact as the economy is often what gives society the ideas around social classes however how one is seen is not purely based on their finances or what their employment/job status is. Society is becoming more open to all types of person, for instance people that are LGBTQIA+ and again those people are part of a commodity. There are certain ways in which people are expected to act in certain situations, for instance in a religious group, members are expected to preach to their beliefs with no outside ideas influencing them, although they may not wholly agree with what is being preached, they are part of a commodification.
ReplyDeleteMarxists would agree that capitalism is to blame for commodification due to the idea that the bourgeoisie are seen as those who have the most power, due to their wealth and status, and the proletariats are the poor who merely have to abide by the rules and do the hard labour. This may be true in some cases but not in all, societies today are beginning to change, less people are afraid to stand up for what they believe in, the protests around Black Lives Matter, for example are proof of that. People of all classes and social statuses were protesting, black, white, young, old, heterosexual or homosexual, everyone was there for the same thing and it was not for monetary / employment status reasons. So yes people are commodified but they are usually only commodified by the social circles they put themselves in (of course there are cases of the extreme, such as extreme religious groups that people can get manipulated into). As a student I am automatically commodified, as mother, I am commodified in another way, as a wife in another. Everyone is subject to it, there is no escape from it.
I would concur with the first post, that commodification is not just specific to capitalist societies. It does, as they have previously stated, occur in communist and socialist societies as well. In these systems the individual is a commodity for state use rather than selling their labor to the highest bidder. Marx’s ideas that the bourgeoisie created a system in which people are commodified is still valid today ,as individuals still do sell themselves and their abilities in the professional world, so they are able to secure a job. This starts in the form of a CV that potential employers peruse to find the best person for the job role and for who they are willing to pay the highest wages too. With globalization, all political systems, and societies in the 21st century , it can be argued are now capitalist in some form or another. The global economies, in my opinion are so tide up within itself that society as a whole would not be able to function without this capitalist system. Somebody somewhere is selling their goods and labor for money, whether it is the individual or the state. This is not however, a bad thing. Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman argued that capitalism was the key to overcoming widespread poverty in the world. Friedman explained that capitalist systems are generally wealthier that other economies therefore their concept of poverty is relative in comparison to countries such as Russia who are not rich due to capitalization therefore their poverty line is maskable lower. This concept is called relative poverty.
ReplyDeleteSteven Pinker also takes this optimistic view, he argues that the world, due to capitalism and globalization has greatly improved in the last two centuries. One example of this would be the introduction of flushing toilets and sewage systems in third world countries.
Commodification can also happen in our private lives, along with our professional lives. When you look at online dating sites, each profile is created in a way so the individual can advertise themselves and stand out. Profiles of individuals normally will include advertising their interests, hobbies, likes, and dislikes along with the use of pictures that are chosen to create a certain image of themselves which will be pleasing to potential matches. thus, making those individuals into commodities to be advertised. I have had personal experiences with these sites, and for the majority of the time, to answer the question, ‘ Have you ever felt like a commodity?’ the experiences I had did make me feel like I was a commodity. Interactions with certain members of these dating sites, did make me feel as though I was thought of as a thing to be objectified and looked at rather than a person in my own right. Interactions and conversations that occurred created a sense that the primarily, male members ,were looking at accruing someone who would boost their social standing, This, to me, felt like commodity fetishism, rather than having meaningful social interactions with an individual and potentially creating a private relationship with them.