Commodity fetishism example. Commodity fetishism explained 2022-12-28

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Commodity fetishism is a concept in Marxist theory that refers to the way in which the value of a commodity is perceived as inherent in the commodity itself, rather than being a product of the labor that went into creating it. This phenomenon is a result of the capitalist mode of production, in which the value of a commodity is determined by the market rather than by the amount of labor that was required to produce it.

One example of commodity fetishism can be seen in the way that luxury goods are marketed and consumed. These goods, such as designer clothing and high-end handbags, are often sold at extremely high prices, despite the fact that the labor required to produce them may be relatively cheap. The value of these goods is not determined by the amount of labor that went into making them, but rather by the perceived status and exclusivity that they offer to the consumer.

Another example of commodity fetishism can be seen in the way that certain brands are able to command premium prices for their products, even when those products are no different from similar products offered by other companies. This can be seen in the way that certain brands of clothing or electronics are able to sell for significantly more than similar products offered by other companies, simply because they are associated with a particular brand or image.

Commodity fetishism also plays a role in the way that people perceive the value of their own labor. In a capitalist society, the value of a person's labor is often determined by the market, rather than by the amount of skill or effort that goes into their work. This can lead to a situation in which people are paid less for their labor than it is worth, while those who own the means of production are able to reap the profits.

Overall, commodity fetishism is a powerful force in capitalist societies, shaping the way that people perceive the value of goods and the labor that goes into producing them. It is a phenomenon that is deeply ingrained in the way that these societies function, and it has significant consequences for the way that people live and work.

Commodity Fetishism (600 Words)

commodity fetishism example

This can be observed in Mardi Gras: Made in China 2005 by recognizing how use-value, exchange-value and surplus-value in our society promotes exploitation. This production relation is brought about by concentrating all the technical factors of production in one economic unit which belongs to a capitalist. I, International Publishers 1974. Eastbourne: Soul Bay Press. The world of goods: towards an anthropology of consumption: with a new introduction.

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Commodity Fetishism

commodity fetishism example

This "material" element, which in fact dominates in economic life, is opposed by the "human" element as an ideal, as a norm, as that which should be. With the emergence of a new type of production relation - namely a capitalistic relation which connects a commodity owner a capitalist with a commodity owner a worker , and which is established through the transfer of money - the money acquires a new social function or form: it becomes "capital. The documentary provides insight that the usefulness of a thing, or the use-value, is often disregarded when people purchase commodities to keep up with trends rather than for its use. From The Holy Family Marx had to move toward The Poverty of Philosophy. Money, as we have seen, is not only a "symbol. Nowadays its not even a valuable object like gold.

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Reflections on commodity fetishism

commodity fetishism example

Conflict theory dictates ideas coined by Karl Marx 1818-1833 who has divided the social groups into two classes, the bougeousie and the proliteriate. History and Class Consciousness : studies in Marxist dialectics. They are "fetishizing" nature as a marketing technique. Mobile phone subscriptions continue to surpass those for landline subscriptions. We say a book is worth 20 dollars, a sweater worth 25 dollars.

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What is the Fetishism of Commodities? — Hampton Institute

commodity fetishism example

If the given type of production relations have not yet spread widely enough in the society, they cannot yet give to things an adequate social form. This type of influence reflects the way in which Western dominance continues to perpetuate global inequities. This role of exchange, as an indispensable component of the process of reproduction, means that the working activity of one member of society can influence the working activity of another only through things. A few observations on the origin of Marx's theory of commodity fetishism can be found in Hammacher's book cited earlier. Although the question of the relation of Marx's theory of value to the theory of the Classical Economists was discussed in economic literature with great zeal though without particular success, the development of Marx's ideas on commodity fetishism has not attracted particular attention. Even if we consciously know that there is a network of social relations being coordinated through this world of commodities, we have no way of experiencing these relations directly because… they are not direct relations.

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Commodity fetishism explained

commodity fetishism example

This opposition between the human and the material element reminds us of Marx's theory of commodity fetishism, but in essence it moves in a different world of ideas. It is not an illusion which functions as a filter to distort our view of the world. The landlord "appears as the personification of one of the most essential conditions of production," land C. Every social form related to the products of labor in capitalist society money, capital, profit, rent, etc. Often mouth-watering, the products showcased become items in and of themselves, generating no connection to their production process. Each side has its internal logic, but due to the unity at the start, no contradiction develops between them. III, Book II, pp.

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Commodity Fetishism Flashcards

commodity fetishism example

Production relations among people and their "material" form is the content of a new opposition, which originated in the earlier opposition between the "human" element in the economy and its "alienated" forms. If the individual technical factors of production are independent, and if they belong to separate economic subjects capitalist, worker and landowner , then the process of production cannot begin until a direct production relation is established among particular individuals who belong to the three social classes mentioned above. Therefore, ideology critique is usually framed as the removal of these glasses, an act which allows a spontaneous and direct engagement with the real world. This was done by Struve; this was done by Bohm-Bawerk, who based his theory on the motives of "pure economic activity," i. The given system of production relations is in some sense a closed entity managed by one will and adapted to the material process of production as a whole.

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Commodity Fetishism Explained

commodity fetishism example

The production relation between determined persons is established on the occasion when things are transferred, and after the transfer it is broken once again. For decades people have had the notion that obtaining materialistic goods is a portrait of success. The engineers, workers and employees were assigned to different divisions previously, according to a determined plan. Only then can the production relation among people be considered truly "reified," namely "crystallized" in the form of a property of the thing, a property which seems to belong to the thing itself and to be detached from the production relation. But it is a thing in the sense that through it are expressed, in "objectified" form, social production relations between buyer and seller.

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Commodity fetishism

commodity fetishism example

Analyzing any economic category, we must first of all point to the social production relation expressed by it. Thus Marx's theory of fetishism represents "a specific synthesis of Hegel, Feuerbach and Ricardo" p. Things appear in a ready-made social form, influencing the motivation and the behavior of individual producers. Oxford, UK Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell Reference. This is not, in my view, what Marx means by the fetishism of commodities. Materially different things known as labor product are holding these values. Does this not mean that Marx's economic theory isolated the production relations among people from the development of productive forces when he analyzed the social form of production in isolation from its material-technical side? For him this difference lay in their functionally different roles in the process of "the expansion of capital" Ibid.

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Commodity Fetishism Definition & Explanation

commodity fetishism example

Exchange interests us mainly as the social form of the process of reproduction which leaves a specific mark on the phase of direct production see below, Chapter Fourteen , not as a phase of the process of reproduction which alternates with the phase of direct production. In other words, the theory of rent is derived from the theory of value. He says that social categories "in every society are built according to the type of economic intercourse, and seem to acquire the form of intereconomic categories. That psychologic perception transforms the trading-value of a commodity into an independent entity an object , to the degree that the social value of the goods and services appears to be a natural property of the commodity itself. The agents of production are combined through the factors of production; production bonds among people are established through the movement of things.

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