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To start, here's the entry from the Oxford English Dictionary:
{dag}1. a. As a quality or condition of things, in relation to the desires or needs of men, etc.: The quality of being ‘commodious’; conveniency, suitability, fitting utility; commodiousness. Obs.
{dag}b. Convenient access to or supply of. Obs.
2. As a property of the person, etc., affected: a. Convenience. Obs. or arch.
{dag}b. Expediency. Obs.
{dag}c. Advantage, benefit, profit, interest: often in the sense of private or selfish interest. Obs.
{dag}d. concr. Profit, gain.
3. (with a and pl.) A convenience, advantage, benefit, interest. Obs. or arch.
{dag}4. Convenient juncture of events; opportunity, occasion. Obs.
5. concr. A thing of ‘commodity’, a thing of use or advantage to mankind; esp. in pl. useful products, material advantages, elements of wealth.
6. a. spec. in Comm. A kind of thing produced for use or sale, an article of commerce, an object of trade; in pl. goods, merchandise, wares, produce. Now esp. food or raw materials, as objects of trade. staple commodity: leading article of trade.
b. fig. and transf. Anything that one ‘trades’ or ‘deals’ in.
{dag}7. a. A quantity of wares, parcel, ‘lot’. Also fig.
{dag}b. spec. in 16-17th c.: A parcel of goods sold on credit by a usurer to a needy person, who immediately raised some cash by re-selling them at a lower price, generally to the usurer himself (see D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Usury).
An accommodation of this kind, designed to evade the usury laws, in which the goods were trumpery, was known as a commodity of brown paper, or the like: see Nares. to take (clap) up a commodity: to obtain such an accommodation.
8. attrib., as commodity agreement, control, fetishism, market, price; commodity dollar U.S., a proposed unit of a form of currency the gold value of which is determined by the current market prices of certain basic commodities; also attrib.; commodity exchange, an organized market for the bulk purchase of certain commodities, a commodity market; commodity rate, a special rate charged by railways for transportation of particular commodities within a specified area.
47 comments:
Book: “The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective”
Author: Arjun Appadurai
Essay: Introduction: Commodities and the Politics of Value
This book is an interesting collection of essays that is a good starting point for further discussion on commodification.
The first essay in the book is aimed to preview and set the context for the essays that follow in the volume; as well as to propose a new perspective on the circulation of commodities in social life. According to the author, “[t]he gist of this perspective [circulation of commodities in social life] can be put in the following way. Economic exchange creates value. Value is embodied in commodities that are exchanged. Focusing on the things that are exchanged, rather than simply on the forms or functions of exchange, makes it possible to argue that what creates the link between exchange and value is politics, construed broadly. This argument, which is elaborated in the text of this essay, justifies the conceit that commodities, like persons, have social lives” (Page 3).
In this essay commodities are defined as “objects of economic value” (Page 3). By value, the author relies on the first chapter of The Philosophy of Money (1907) written by Georg Simmel, in where value, is “never an inherent property of objects, but a judgment made about them by subjects” (ibid).
One of the questions explored in this essay regarding commodities is, “in what does its sociality consist?” According to the author, “the purist answer, routinely attributed to Marx, is that a commodity is a product intended principally for exchange, and that such products emerge by definition, in the institutional, psychological, and economic conditions of capitalism.”
Article: “Debt Fears Shake Markets”
Date: March 24, 2010
Website: http://bx.businessweek.com/investing-in-commodities/
- This article talks about how the current economic recession has hit the global markets
- Much of the action that has taken place has occurred in the currency and bond markets
o On Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 52.68 points
- This economic recession has also affected commodities such as oil and gold for they too have seen a decrease
- According to the article, usually when treasury and or stocks fall, the other increases, however lately both have feel
- “The market is growing very uneasy with the lack of certainty” says Camila Sutton, currency strategist at Scotia Capital
Source:http://bx.businessweek.com/investing-in-commodities/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fc.moreover.com%2Fclick%2Fhere.pl%3Fr2647332508%26f%3D9791
So I was navigating on line and ran into this neat chart that reports on the current prices of most common used commodities. I highly suggest that you check it out! Hope it helps!
Commodity Futures and Indexes.12:34 a.m. EDT 03/25/10Futures Last Change
See note on contract specifications and update times.
Crude Oil 80.46 -0.15
Natural Gas, May 4.140 -0.014
Gold, April 1088.6 -0.2
Copper (¢), May 334.05 -0.50
Coffee 134.50 -0.45
Corn (¢) 364.50 -0.50
Lean Hogs, June 81.000 0.275
Live Cattle, June 92.775 -0.100
Soybeans (¢) 961.2 1.2
Sugar 17.85 1.10
Wheat (¢) 476.8 0.8
Lumber 288.0 6.5
See All Intraday PricesSee All Daily Settlement Prices
..Indexes Last Change % Chg
* at close
DJ-UBS Commodity* 130.592 -1.202 -0.912
S&P GSCI* 516.92 -5.95 -1.14
Reuters-Jeffries CRB* 269.48 -2.23 -0.82
.
..Cash Commodity Prices .
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 European crude oil Wed
Price Prev
Day Year
Ago
Brent 78.04 79.22 51.08
Domestic crude oil
West Texas Intermediate, Cushing 80.36 81.56 52.27
Gold
London p.m. fixing 1090.75 1101.50 929.00
Other metals
Copper, high grade: Comex spot price $ per lb. 3.3365 3.3695 1.7970
Platinum: free market 1586.0 1598.0 1122.0
Foods
Cocoa, Ivory Coast, $ per metric ton 3412 3412 2936
Coffee, Brazilian, Comp. 1.2826 1.2660 1.0652
Grains and Feeds
Corn, No. 2 yellow. Cent. Ill. bu 3.3800 3.3500 3.6250
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow Illinois, bu 9.3550 9.4400 9.3850
See all Cash Prices
Article: "Hottest Commodities of 2009"
Source:http://www.cnbc.com/id/31089606/The_10_Hottest_Commodities_of_2009?slide=1
I found this very interesting for it list "the 10 hottest commodities of 2009".
What are they?
10. Nickel
YTD % Change: +19.23%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $13,950/ton
52-Week High: $25,000/ton
52-Week Low: $8,850/ton
9. Heating Oil
YTD % Change: +20.55%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $1.7384/gallon
52-Week High: $4.1586/gallon
52-Week Low: $1.1252/gallon
8. Soybeans
YTD % Change: +20.61%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $11.82/bushel
52-Week High: $16.355/bushel
52-Week Low: $7.77/bushel
7. Coffee
YTD % Change: +23.47%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $1.3835/pound
52-Week High: $1.563/pound
52-Week Low: $1.0215/pound
6. Raw Sugar
YTD % Change: +26.08%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $0.1489/pound
52-Week High: $0.1605/pound
52-Week Low: $0.0944/pound
5. Silver
YTD % Change: +35.55%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $15.31/ounce
52-Week High: $19.55/ounce
52-Week Low: $8.40/ounce
4. Orange Juice
YTD % Change: +35.55%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $15.31/ounce
52-Week High: $19.55/ounce
52-Week Low: $8.40/ounce
3. Crude Oil
YTD % Change: +48.25%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $66.12/barrel
52-Week High: $147.27/barrel
52-Week Low: $33.2/barrel
2. Copper
YTD % Change: +56.88%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $2.212/pound
52-Week High: $4.08/pound
52-Week Low: $1.255/pound
and the number 1 is....
RBOB Unleaded Gas!
YTD % Change: +79.06%
Closing Price (6/3/09): $1.9016/gallon
52-Week High: $3.631/gallon
52-Week Low: $0.785/gallon
How many of these commodities are part of your daily life?
Yellow Apparel: When the Coolie Becomes Cool
Within the recent years, Asian culture has made its way into pop culture, represented through music artist and other media, and commercial living. From the “mysterious and foreign east,” one’s home interior, clothing, and even way of exercising can have a hint of Asian characteristics. It is a step into a world that is the opposite of white America. It is one that invokes symbols of the exotic and the foreign. Yet the consequence is the lost of its meaning during its mass creation. The documentary, Yellow Apparel: When the Coolie Becomes Cool, discusses how White society has commodified Asian culture to suit their materialistic needs and how it affects Asian Americans in society. Why is it that if a white person dons a bindi it is considered cultural and “cool” however if an Indian girl is to wear it she becomes the target of her peers? What allows white Americans to exploit other cultures for their own benefit? While it is believed that Asians have “arrived” in American because of the increasing presence of their goods into America’s markets, the commodification of the multiple Asian cultures does not act as a mark of arrival or acceptance but rather creates an idea of two separate distinct cultures and even a further sense of segregation between Asians Americans and white Americans.
The History Channel’s Ganglands
http://www.history.com/shows/gangland
Compton, South Central, and Watts have been depicted in the media as areas with heavy gang related activities. These cities with demographics consisting of mostly low income African Americans and Chicano/Chicana Americans carry the infamous reputation of dangerous living. The History Channel has dedicated an entire series to this way of living. I remember watching this when I was younger and being completely terrified. Late at night when the show would be on, the narrator talked about territories, gang initiation, and the violence with testimonies from former gang members. While Ganglands does shed some light into gang life in these areas, what can be questioned is what message they are trying to send out to the audience. Going on the website, these people are depicted as if they were subjects to be studied. The black and white layout of the website makes the entire topic very clinical and detached as if the gangs were something to be studied like some sort of subject. While the gang life is very real, what Gangland misses and does not cover is the conditions as to why this develops. What kinds of institutions have created such lifestyles? How have the conditions of the areas these people lived in affect the decisions to join a gang? The History Channel, while attempting to make something very “scholarly” and “academic” like with this documentary series, they have capitalized on the struggles of these communities from a safely situated position of the outsider.
Paul Gauguin
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gauguin/gauguin.spirit-dead-watching.jpg
One of the more distinguished painters in the art world, Gauguin brought the style of Primitivism into the European world. Primitivism is a style that is influenced by the idea that life was more moral during the earlier stages of mankind. Many artists like Gauguin began traveling to non-western countries like Tahiti and found inspiration in the “primitive lifestyle” the people lived. Living in Tahiti, Gauguin felt a restriction lifted from him. These European artists had the ability to escape from their old lifestyles. They came to these new exotic (colonized) lands to find a new way of being, bringing back new ideas and artifacts. This became a phenomenon and new movement in Europe. While art collectors in Europe were buying these paintings for large sums of money and studied the “primitive” culture, they could not care less about the actual condition of the people they extorted the culture, lifestyle, and objects from. Above is a link to one of his more famous paintings “The Spirit of the Dead Watching”. The woman in the painting was his 13 year old “lover” he took when he visited Tahiti.
Commodifying Kids: The forgotten Crisis
http://www.truthout.org/040309J
Children these days are confronted with images that are drastically different from children ten years ago. With the rise of Bratz Dolls and Hannah Montana, children and especially young girls are forced to grow up much faster than they are supposed to. In this article, Giroux discusses the commodification of the child, where instead of the parent deciding what decides what the child buys, the child becomes the main consumer. Instead of protecting childhood, companies are exploiting it. Two points I found to be most important are below:
"What kind of society and future do we want for our children given how obviously unsustainable and exploitative the now failed market-driven system has proven to be?"
"Children then become the primary source of redemption for the future of capitalism - even as it implodes. Erased as future citizens of a democracy, kids are now constructed as consuming and saleable objects."
Ed hardy
http://edhardyshop.com/categories/edhardy-womens/womens-apparel/edhardy-womens-tshirts/flirty-geisha-basic-tee.html
Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier is a clothing line that has recently become popular. With his clothing carried in Macys, Nordstroms, and even Bloomingdales, this type of clothing is target to a certain audience, and that is one with a lot of money. While his clothing ranges from swimsuits to jeans, what makes him stand out is his prints. Often using koi fishes and geishas, it is clear that he is influenced by Japanese culture. The link above is an example of how his clothes are like. On the shirt titled “flirty geisha” he turns the geisha into a hyper sexual creature playing into the entire image of the mysterious dragon lady. Stating that his working is a combination of Asian and American culture, it just turns out to be offensive. What Audigier really achieves is clothes that are over priced and overly tacky.
Title:Chocolate: Valuable commodity to Alva Library
Source:http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpID=348&NewsID=977210&CategoryID=7227&show=localnews&om=1
Date: 3/27/10
This is a very short news bit, however I found it to be interesting given that it reminds us that commodities do not only play a key role in the global market but they do make an impact at the local level. Take this for instance, in where chocolate is able to fundraise to better equip a local library that will contribute to a community in general.
"For centuries civilizations have valued chocolate as a luxury and as a trading currency. For Alva Public Library, chocolate has become “brown gold.”
Each year the Friends of the Alva Library hold two major fundraising events, the Chocolate Fantasy and a book sale to benefit the library.
This year marks the twelfth anniversary of the Chocolate Fantasy, held the last Monday in March. The group has raised approximately $60,000 for the library to use for books, magazines and equipment since its inception."
Mare Island's rails become hot commodity
By Jessica A. York
Posted: 03/27/2010 01:01:44 AM PDT
Source:http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_14769498
This article is not only interesting but it take place in Vallejo, right here in the bay! Check it out! =)
title: Commodity groups discuss key environmental issues with Admin
Date: March 27, 2010
Source:http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=84001
"National Cotton Council Chairman Eddie Smith said he was encouraged by discussion on production agriculture issues that he and leaders from five other U.S. commodity groups had with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson."
McClintock, Anne. “Soft-Soaping Empire: Commodity Racism and Imperial Advertising.”
Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Context. Roiutledge,
1995 (207-231).
Commodity fetishism: the obsession societies develop concerning certain products making an object represent much more than something material. For example, soap in the Victorian era was a commodity highly fetishised by a society obsessed with purity and a sense of cleanliness. Racism and sexism became embedded within this product through advertisement. Advertisement during the Victorian era had an incredible impact upon the world because it imposed the fears and judgment of the elite on all levels of society. Shameless and dehumanizing advertisements for commodities, such as soap, made “the mass marketing of empire as an organized system of images and attitudes” possible. “Soap flourished not only because it created and filled a spectacular gap in the domestic market but also because, as a cheap and portable domestic commodity, it could persuasively mediate the Victorian poetics of racial hygiene and imperial progress” (209). Thus, an organized system developed which allowed racism and sexism to permeate societies on a much more widespread scale. The sale of soap marked the shift from small business to large imperial monopolies, further allowing the viewpoints of a fearful European elite to spread. Advertisements depicting a white baby cleaning the face of a black baby with a bar of Pears’ Soap to reveal a white face underneath is an example of the overt racism associated with the commoditization of soap. Thus, European unity increased while racism flourished. Also, sexism and sexual control became part of the history of soap as well. Women’s cleanliness and place in society became part of the sale of soap through advertisements leading society to believe that women belong in the household and should be subservient to men.
The belief that contact with Western commodities could bring civilization to other places was inherent within advertisements as well. Only white men, as portrayed in advertisements, were the picture of civility. In another ad, an African man stands on a beach in which a bar of soap has washed up on shore. “In keeping with the racist iconography of the gender degeneration of African men [in which African males were, and still are, exhibited for visual consumption in a similar fashion to that of female bodies], the man is subtly feminized by his role as historic exhibit.” The title of the ad reads, “The Birth of Civilization,” which suggests that Victorian commodities can bring civilization and masculinity to the whole world (223-4). Therefore, through the commoditization of soap, racism and sexism have been historically ingrained, continuing to disseminate deleterious messages to all people about the positions of different groups of humans—such as Africans, women, Europeans, and men—within the global framework of worldwide interactions.
“The Death and Life of Punk, the Last Subculture” Dylan Clark
Originated in the mid 70s, punk music/lifestyle emerged as a means to rejected mainstream ideas, lifestyle, and music. It was anti-corporate, anti-capitalism, lyrics often were political and it heavily invested in the “Do It Yourself” mentality. In the article written by Dylan Clark, he discusses how this subculture, one that was a rejection of the norm, ironically became incorporated into mainstream media. With the sign on of bands like the Clash and Green Day to major record labels, many begin to see this as the “death of punk.” The image of the angry youth unsatisfied with his/her surroundings was now being marketed to the general public. Those who rejected the system were now incorporated and marketed back to them. This type of investment of punk music, led and even forced, as Clark says, punk to die.
Conflict Diamonds-The Value of Diamonds
http://www.diamondfacts.org/conflict/index.html
Diamonds are symbols of many things, love, wealth, luxury, and so on. For hundreds of years and even to this date, diamonds are popular commodities and they appear to forever will be. With high demand of diamonds, in areas that have a high concentration of diamonds, unethical practices have emerged to find these diamonds. In the 1990s, military groups in Africa used diamonds to fund civil wars, which have left devestating consequences to its people. While we as consumers have the privilege to buy diamonds from jewelry stores like Kays and De Beers, we must ask how these diamonds came to these locations in the first place and what are we supporting when we buy such diamonds. According to the United Nations however, through the Kimberly Process, a program to certify the origins of diamonds, now about 99 percent of diamonds are conflict free. Like commodities such as diamonds, when something becomes valued or goes into high demand, what means to people go about to manipulate that for their own uses?
http://jezebel.com/5475777/fancy-mens-magazine-jumps-on-blackface-trend
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/10/french_vogue_shoots_lara_stone.html
It has gotten to the point where African Americans have become a type of commodity, their bodies used for profit as can be seen in this fashion editorial of model Lara Stone in blackface. It is as if it is something that these white models can simply put on, wear for a day and take off.
Commodity: Meat
Meat market and treatment of animals and its consequences
Food Inc
"Meat: Meat is another type of popular commodity. This includes live cattle, pork bellies and lean hogs. This is primarily exchanged on the Kansas City Board of Trade or KCBT. This is actually where historically, livestock have been traded. The commodity seems to be less volatile than others. A lot of times this particular commodity type is dependent upon grain as well, since the grain feeds most of the livestock."
With the high demand of meat, it calls for a mass production of it. Cows, pigs, and chickens, as shown in Food Inc, are subjected to unethical conditions. The mass production does not only hurt the animals but independent producers and farmers as well.
The Business of Being Born-Film
In the business of being born, it discusses how even one of the most special moments in a person's life has been turned into a business. In Japan and Europe, over 70% of women give birth through midwives, compared to only 8% of women. The rise of C-sections have gone up and now over 1/3 of pregnant opt for C-sections,one of the more expensive procedures. In hospitals, more and more doctors are trying to get women to deliver quicker, focusing on the "health of the baby" instead of focusing on the mother. OB/GYN are also not trained to give birth, so they look at pregnancy in a medical perspective. Midwifery has been portrayed as dirty and unsafe. However the US has the second highest infant mortality rate in the world.
From the reading Chapter 3: The Mirror of Production: The realization Problem of Capital by Mark Gottdiener from The Theorizing of America. Boulder, Co. Westview Press 2001
Analysis: We must understand Marx dissection of capitalism as this:You have an investment of capital for the creation of a product, and then the product is sold for more capital. When you subtract the cost of the product you have a profit. This is basically how capitalism works. It’s simple, from this simple equation you can come up with a value towards this commodity. That is when it gets all tricky, especially now a days. Before the value of the commodity was given by the worth of the product, how much was consumed and needed. Now the value of a commodity is determined by the consumers desire and fantasies. This chapter the author points out that commodities are now determined by its thematic appeals in marketing and the influence of fashion in the social process of consumption. Now people give commodity its own value not by how good the product is, or how much they really need it, but by how much a person is made to desire it. For instance shoes, they are a commodity that is needed, now the value that is given to this item is going to vary depending on the symbol or brand of the product. In this case or any in the case of any other product, with out its brand that is socially valued, how much would the value be? It seems that we have lost the true value of a commodity, and left with a social value system that is priced by desire and not truly for what its worth. This chapter the author explains the current dependency of both production and consumption on symbolic appeals, while also acknowledging the importance of the traditional production cost, profits, prices, and consumer budget. Here we see that commodities are valued with the spaces they are being displayed at; movies, media, department stores, ect.
From the reading The Social Life of things: commodities in cultural perspective by Arjun Appardurai.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6JqTcziwKTYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=commodity&ots=Xj779qTXp4&sig=uQ9a2GxIcfirRW-nvZaWNC8bW7Y#v=onepage&q=commodity&f=false
Analysis: In this reading has the aim to propose a new perspective on the circulation of commodities in social life. In its argument we see that commodities do not have an absolute value as a result for its demand, but the demand, as the basis of a real imagined exchange, endows the object with value. Meaning that the value of an object is understood by the desire, demand, sacrifice and power. All these interact to create the economic value in a specific social situation. Meaning that the value of certain object will vary from place to place because the politics of value is closely related with the politics of knowledge. Depending on what a certain region thinks is common sense then a certain value will be given to the object. All of this is determined by how globalized the region is. If a certain sector of the world has no sense of ‘high fashion’ a shoe with a nike sign will have no more value than a shoe that has no brand and made in the town. Maybe more value will be given to it because of its appearances, but the people will have no more use for it than the regular shoe, making both products cheaper and not determined by the brand but by its actual worth. From this article we can conclude that the value of the product will be subject to the social control and political redefenition.
From the Reading: Trust as a Commodity: Trust, Credibility and Commitment by Partha Dasgupta.
Citation: Dasgupta, Partha (2000) ‘Trust as a Commodity’, in Gambetta, Diego (ed.) Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations, electronic edition, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, chapter 4, pp. 49-72 <;http://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/papers/ dasgupta49-72.pdf>.
Analysis: In this article we are talking about ‘trust’ in the exchange of commodities. The author begins by giving us 7 important points about trust and its involvement in commodities. I will only talk about the three most important ones. As of now there is no real punishment for people that are not trusted. This is simple, when there are people that sell you a product that is not up to par, then there is no real judgment or consequence to that action. The only one that exist is the person decision to not buy from him or her again. Secondly Dasgupta comes to the conclusion that the punishment to an unhonest person must be credible, being so that trust is something you can measure, and something that should be valued such as his commodity. What all this is trying to get at is that in the new form of capitalism trust is erased from the transaction of commodities. The only form that we have now of truly trusting another person, comes from the creation of a contract or agreement. And even then we are only placing responsibility on the person due to legal actions, and not by how honest a person may be. With this we can see that the practice of capitalism, has become one that cannot be done with out deception, lies, and trickery. In order to gain the most profit people must lie about the value, or importance of a product. What the author is trying to get at is that trust should be taken more into account and punished if not met with the simple requirement of honesty.
From Arjun Appardurai’s Commodities and the Politics of Value.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sHWyDoDBGJEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA76&dq=commodity&ots=CvZ-Jl9fa6&sig=5bFpa-MOZrlakO3XMsZx9XAuBq4#v=onepage&q=commodity&f=false
Analysis: In this article Arjun Appardurai is arguing and proposing a new perspective on the circulation of commodities in social life. The overall argument in the article is as follows; economic exchange creates value, value is embodied in commodities that are exchanged. In which we focus on what is being exchanged, rather than simply on the form or function of exchange. This leads Arjun to theorize the link between exchange and value as a form of Politics, in which we have articulated it and understood commodities and its exchange inappropriately. And finally reaching to the conclusion that commodities like persons have social lives. In this article the term commodities is being interpreted as goods that are being exchanged, the problem that she proposes is that commodities no longer have a set price, or value. They are being manipulated by Politics and the interpretation of the value is being set by corporations, and the powers that be in order to gain the most profit. In this world of capitalism, and free market, we have gotten to the era in which media and manipulation is the most powerful tool to allow commodities to have social lives, and transform its value depending on the people its needs and epistemology. The problem with this is that commodities is losing and gaining value on a non-existing scale. Unlike the past where commodities were valued on the need and amount of life that was used to create the raw good.
From the reading Paying for water and the geography of commodities by Ben Page
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/118685771/HTMLSTART
Analysis: This article is focusing on the recent move to make water a commodity. In which it gives us both sides of the argument, it gives us examples of corporations trying to take over the water supply in different parts of the world. While at the same time giving us examples of human protest, and activism in efforts to prevent water from becoming a commodity. A member of the World Bank has prophesized that the wars in the 21st century would be over water. What he meant by it was not in the sense of nations fighting over wars, but the fight/struggle/opposition of the creeping commodification of water by towns, and communities. In this case the article talks about commodities in the same sense all the other articles talk about commodities, a good that is being turned in to a raw good that will have a value, and exploited “eventually.” In this case I agree with the European Water Framework Directive, they said “water is not a commercial product like any other, but rather a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such.” The commodification of water in this case would be a theft of a common good, they have already commodified education, art, life, now they are trying to take over water, what’s next air?
From the reading: Introducing Medical Abortion within the Primary Health System: Comparison with Other Health Intervenvention and commodities. by Sharad D. Iyengar
http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/3776471?seq=1&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dcommodities%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=3&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasicResultsFromArticle
Analysis: This article is talking about the commodification of health care, and the accessibility to these resources in third world towns. In this case just as in the article of commodification of water, a common good such as health care is being exploited for profit. Commodification again is being used in the political and capitalistic transformation of a common good to a raw good that can be sold and given an unpredictable value. It has reached a level of value that a common human may not have the resources to produce such an exchange for the “benefit” of health care. The lack of attention and respect that the 1978 Alma Ata declaration has received has left those living in interior areas of developing countries, especially women that lack physical and social mobility with unreasonable health care services. Due to exploited value of health care people especially women are being left in the darkness when it comes to treating their basic health care needs. Not so common diseases are being unattained such as; malaria, and tuberculosis, at the same time leaving unattained human rights such as; child health, and family planning. From evaluating this article and the use of the term commodity, it seems that capitalism is exploiting every resource known to man. How far will capitalism grow until we realize that are very lives are being exploited for the surplus of profit. What are we gaining from exploiting our souls? Nothing but making the rich man richer, and resting the worlds power on there shoulder, to be honest I don’t think we can trust them. The day in which we can set a value to commodities, that is the day in which us as people/nation/community can live freely without the evils of capitalism knocking at our door charging us to simply live.
Gifts, Commodities, and Social relations: A Maussian view of exchange by James Carrier
http://www.jstor.org/stable/684384?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dcommodities%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=6&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: This article posses very good questions on rethinking the concept of commodities, we enter the text by focusing on three questions. From which I will only write down the most relavant: What is the social understanding of the nature of people and their relationship with each other and the transactions of objects amongst themselves? In this article we are given the example of societies that move away from the exchanging of objects in capitalistic terms. We are given a new form of exchange, “gift exchange”, in which societies that work around this form of exchange are those that are dominated by kinship relationships and groups. From this article we see that there are two forms of commodity exchange, one that is associated with industrial societies, dominated by class and the division of labor. In which there is no obligation with each other, no connection amongst man, or the fact that we are living in the same planet sharing the earths resources for the greater good. The second form of commodity exchange is associated with understanding that the transaction maybe material one-way, and friendship, and gratitude the other way. I see this second form as a utopian way of being, one that focuses on the common good in humans. One that will help eliminates the problems that have been implemented by Western thought.
From the Reading: A Day-to-Day Buying Policy for Commodities -- A Study of Purchasing Maize. by: Rui C. Guimaraes and Brian G. Kingsma
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2582936?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dcommodities%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=11&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: This article focus on commodity purchasing and its inflating pricing depending on the contract the exchangers abide to, all in relation to maze production and exchange. From the article there is a very important thought that allows us to further understand the inflation of commodities: “commodity purchasing is an example of par excellence of management having to make decisions in highly turbulent environments affected by economic, political and climatic uncertainty.” From this thought we once again see that the value a commodity is given is produced by many things, not only is it priced on value, interpretation, or exchange rate, but also on the environments economic standing, political and climatic state. From the articles analysis on maze exchange we see that long term deals, and short term deals also have impacting roll in setting prices for commodities. If one makes a ten-year plan with a group to receive a certain commodity, in this case maze, prices will be more stable. There will be money for future crop growing, and a certain comforting sensation that will allow a comforting pricing for the commodity. In the other hand if short-term exchange policies are installed, then the pricing will fluctuate depending on the demand from the consumer. How much to crop, how many resources to obtain, how much work is needed to be done will vary from year to year, this uncertainty and variation from year to year will lead to the variation of value.
From the reading: Commodities in Nairobi by Dragoslav Avramovic
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4365020?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26la%3D%26wc%3Don%26gw%3Djtx%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3Dcommodities%26sbq%3Dcommodities%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines%26si%3D26%26jtxsi%3D26&item=28&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: This article is focusing on the agreements that were reached on May 31, 1976 by the UNCTAD. Three major decisions were made concerning primary product exports of developing countries. The first decision made was the improvement in the terms of trade of developing countries, the avoidance of excessive price fluctuation and the improvement of market access. The second decision made was the controlled pricing of 18 common goods that were mainly produced in third world countries. The second was that this organization was to set the prices for the 18 goods that were going to be put in the world market. I’m not sure if the people and countries that allowed these decisions to be implemented were conscious of the power there decision was going to have. These decision made facilitated the expansion of globalization, and the creation of a world class system. In which the developing countries were stabilized in there growth, while core countries had the opportunity to keep getting richer and richer, this was because the commodities that they produced were not being regulated. What should be done is to have conference or an organization that regulates pricing on nike’s, apple products, and sony products. This would allow us to control the distinction between value and desire. A move that would allow us to see transaction as much more than desire for something, but rather a transaction for a necessity.
From the reading: Assets, Contingent Commodities, and the Slutsky Equations by: Stanley Fischer
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1909413?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26la%3D%26wc%3Don%26gw%3Djtx%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3Dcommodities%26sbq%3Dcommodities%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines%26si%3D26%26jtxsi%3D26&item=34&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: In this article we are given the mathematical equation to two approaches of consumer behavior, in which we find that each “asset problem” there corresponds a “constrained contingent commodity problem.” Even thought I had a difficult time following the logic behind the mathematical approach in understanding what they actually wanted to prove. I did comprehend the ways in which commodities were seen in this text. Unlike the other articles I have read, this one focused on creating the most assets from exchanging commodities. This would be a perfect article to understand if you wanted to become a capitalist, this mathematical equation would allow you to understand the strategies of exchange in order for you to reach the most profit or “assets.”
In this case we can understand that this mathematical equation is to allow capitalist to have more control over the market not taking into consideration the people or its affects of this mathematical equation. Thus I ask should theories, and mathematical equations be created if they know they will have a negative affect on the world. It will aid a small amount of people to explode with wealth, but what will happen to the remaining part of the world. How can we use move to a world where knowledge will be used for good, and not for evil. In this case the word commodity lies in the same devilish category alongside those such as capitalism, and greed.
From the reading: The Growth of Demand for New Commodities by: A. D. Bain
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2982371?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26la%3D%26wc%3Don%26gw%3Djtx%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3Dcommodities%26sbq%3Dcommodities%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines%26si%3D26%26jtxsi%3D26&item=40&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: This article is another analysis that places commodities as a tool of growth and profit. In which it tries to reorder the equation of profit in relation to outside factor that affect the overall value and success of a certain commodity. In this paper which is ideal in western thought, they continue to find a mathematical equation that will allow major corporations or Eurocentric entrepreneurs to improve the output of their commodity. In the mathematical equation it tries to evaluate the curve in which the commodity was consumed in relation to economic factors in the area. The example given relating to the economic state of the consumer was evaluating the peoples consumption rates and their accessibility to purchasing a television. If the world keeps analyzing commodity purchasing and ways to improve profit through commodities, then eventually we are going to be forced to buy things in order to use certain things. For instance, we are going to have to buy shoes, with no shoelaces, and forced to buy shoelaces separately. That is just a small example.
From the reading: Goodly Beasts, Beastly Goods: Cattle and Commodities in a South African Context. By John L. Comaroff and Jean Comaroff
http://www.jstor.org/stable/645076?&Search=yes&term=commodities&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26la%3D%26wc%3Don%26gw%3Djtx%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3Dcommodities%26sbq%3Dcommodities%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines%26si%3D51%26jtxsi%3D51&item=66&ttl=105399&returnArticleService=showArticle
Analysis: This article takes into account the value that cattle has in South Africa, not simply by the value in cost, but also other variants that determine the worth of the cattle. In South Africa for example a cow has an important value simply when the act of marriage comes along, it is used as an exchange for the woman. In this case it not only has an ecological value but also a symbolic value. It is information like this that people take advantage of, knowing the symbolic value certain commodities posses, they can use it to there advantage to promote and exploit the people, to gain the most profit out of the transaction. And this is what this article is arguing, explaining the fact that this information can be used as a way to gain the most profit from the exchange. It does this by giving many examples of commodities being exploited depending on there symbolic value.
Esther B. Fein (a writer for the New York Times) said, “If the United Nations is a country unto itself, then the commodity it exports most is words.”
My analysis: This quote shows that commodities do not have to be material objects. In a way, legal documents produced by the UN are goods produced by departments full of workers, such as lawyers, which are then sold to the world, in the form of treaties which states sign onto in order for them to enter into force. Therefore, laws are created and act as commodities in that they are elements of wealth which regulate the actions of states in an array of ways—from regulating trade to putting restrictions on what states can and cannot do. Legislative works, such as the documents released by the UN, definitely impact certain groups more than others. Undoubtedly, the UN, from the moment of its conception, has been extremely Western slanted which is typically part of commodities. Oftentimes, producers of commodities benefit the most from their production. Arguably, the UN as an institution and the West as a location benefit the most from the creation of many treaties and covenants.
Book: The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Ed. Arjun Appadurai.
Cambridge, 1986 (3-28).
If commodities are objects with value, in economic terms, then objectivity and subjectivity both play a role in increasing or decreasing that value. Both real and imaged values are placed upon objects and social control and politics are linked to commodities. Thus, commodities are different than mere objects and services because they are subject to social constructs and politics. Additionally, commodities are tied to finances and capital because money is central to obtaining commodities. Desire and demand are linked and money is the predominant way in which desires are fulfilled and demand for commodities increase. Politics, society, and economics all tie into the demand for commodities, making objects and services develop a chain which gives them psychological meaning instead of only material significance.
Book: Radin, Margaret Jane. Contested Commodities. 1996 (132-153).
The commodification of sexuality takes place when bodies are reduced to objects. Prostitution is one of the ways in which sexuality is turned into a product which can then be sold. Women are predominantly the ones being commodified. The feminine form symbolizes sexual desire and is tied in with patriarchal systems of control which try to regulate sexuality. Women are often the victims of commodification and objectification while men are usually the ones paying for the goods and services. While some argue that stripping and prostitution can liberate women, the sex trade industry, human trafficking, and rape are examples of how the commodification of bodies results in violence, not freedom. Consent plays a large role, but, regardless, the end may still result in psychological and physical harm.
Book: McDonald, David A. and Greg Ruiters. Age of Commodity: Water Privatization in
Southern Africa. Earthscan Canada: 2005.
The privatization of water in many parts of the world has turned a once free natural occurrence into a commodity which is regulated by businesses and withheld from the poor. The desire to make a profit has prevented people from having equal access to clean water, trampling on the human right to health for the impoverished. The privatization of water shows how practically anything can be turned into a commodity—an object or service often economically controlled by being given a monetary value and frequently involve political, societal, economic and corporate systems which give something a higher or lesser “value”—producing hegemonic access to something that should be inherently available to all. While water is vital to life, by turning it into a commodity, its psychological, and not simply natural, value increases and makes the ability to obtain it limited to the privileged or elite.
Book: Khoo, Teseen and Louie Kam. Culture, Identity, Commodity: Diasporic Chinese
Literatures in English. McGill-Queen's U.: 2005.
This book discusses—in section one called, “Commodifying Desires”—the commodification of Chinese culture through the sale of cuisine for an American public, which actually alters the authenticity and genuineness of what it means to be Chinese. Within cookbooks and restaurants, Chinese culture is reduced and stereotyped in order to make money. The commodification of culture, through culinary tourism and other means, waters down the truth to make it easier for the American, elite, white public to swallow. In doing so, the cultural representation is inaccurate, further leading to the spread of naïveté and misunderstandings between cultures. This cycle, brought about by the potential for monetary gain, perpetuates structures which lead to violence, both psychologically and physically, against groups. The critic Sau-ling Cynthia Wong defines “food pornography” as an “exploitative form of self-Orientalization in which Asian-American subjects actively promote the ‘exotic’ nature of their foodways.” She continues to argue that ‘in cultural terms (food pornography) translates to reifying perceived cultural differences and exaggerating one's otherness in order to gain foothold in a white-dominated social system’ (23). Thus, the commodification of Chinese culture in America through cuisine results in the perpetuation of perceived differences. Intentional and unintentional acts of violence—cultural, structural, and direct—result when perceived differences prevent groups from interacting in a compassionate, understanding way. For example, cultural violence occurs due to misunderstandings about ways of life, traditions, and customs; structural violence happens as a result of the segregation of Chinese-American people into “China Towns” and areas which have historically had larger Chinese populations due to immigration laws in the past; and direct violence results when groups interact with one another in a harmful way, physically or psychologically, such as by a person hitting someone or saying something culturally insensitive causing offense.
Book: Simpson, David. Wordsworth, Commodification, and Social Concern: The Poetics of
Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge U., 2009.
Long quote: “Commodification, by which I here mean to reference the extended development of commodity form (Marx’s Warenform) by around 1800, is the hardest of my terms to explain up front; it is the one that requires lengthy exposition and an accumulation of instances to be made apparent, for the commodity cannot itself be either seen or felt: its form is ghostly. Marx’s declaration is famous and is to be taken very seriously: ‘a commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.’ As such it carries with it a ‘secret’ that we must try to decipher. It seems easy enough to think about consumption and consumerism: we can track them through items, things in the world, and connect them readily enough with familiar moral discourses about luxury and expense, as many eighteenth-century writers did. The debate about consumption invokes human bodies and human desires, wants and needs, visible causes and urgent effects” (5-6).
I felt like this quote reiterated what many of the other sources I found were saying about commodities, but did so in a general way.
Book: Dunn, Robert G. Identifying Consumption: Subjects and Objects in Consumer Society.
Philadelphia: Temple U., 2008.
Long quote: “Three traditions will be briefly identified, in roughly historical order. First of all, the work of Marx initiated an extensive body of theory based on his revealing insights into capitalism as a system of commodity production, as found especially in his commentaries on alienation and commodity fetishism. Marx began a critique of capitalist modernity later extended by Georg Lukacs, Max Weber, Georg Simmel, and the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Second, a ‘Veblenesque’ tradition is apparent in the intellectual heirs of the controversial author who studied the leisure class in the United States and whose famous notion of ‘conspicuous consumption’ influenced generations of writers who have seen commodities as status-seeking objects. A third but less clearly defined tradition views commodities and consumption in relation to themes of desire and pleasure. This approach has both affirmative and critical tendencies, seeing consumerism variously as a manifestation of a culture of hedonistic self-fulfillment or as a type of narcissism exhibiting excessive and even pathological drives towards immediate gratification” (22-3).
This quote also briefly introduces three theories about commodities which might help us in our final paper.
Book: Hennessy, Rosemary. Profit and Pleasure: Sexual Identities in Late Capitalism.
London: Routledge, 2000.
Long quote: “Like other historians, Foucault tells us that during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Europe, the centers of commodity production gradually moved from the household to the market, a shift that meant economic and political powers would no longer rely so completely on the family alliance. The new apparatus of sex did not replace the family but was superimposed on it without completely supplanting it (Foucault 1978, 106). While family alliances continued to serve as conduits for property and inheritance, for social reproduction and control, sexuality extended that control into the body that produces and consumes; ‘the sensations of the body, the quality of pleasures, the nature of impressions’ became fields for power (Foucault 1978, 107). In this complex relationship between family and sexuality lay the enabling conditions for the emergence of a full-blown commodity culture, conditions made possible and supported by overdetermined adjustments in the international sexual division of labor (Hennessy and Mohan).” (98).
The commodity culture which arose placed different values on genders and forms of relationships. Thus, the commodification of female sexuality and homosexuality began to be seen in a negative way. In order to protect the social structure, heteronormativity was given a higher social value where female pleasure and femininity was less emphasized and homosexuality was looked down upon. The purpose was to protect social structures from becoming more egalitarian for the sake of maintaining a hegemonic system despite the modernization of technology making women and men more equal in the workforce and elsewhere. Masculinity became a commodity with higher social value while femininity was also commodified but in a negative way. Also, same sex relationships went against the social norms of a “natural” family structure. Homosexuality was then commodified as a form of relationship with lesser social value and with it came the fear of ostracism from one’s family and the community at large. Money again played and still plays a role because homosexuals may have fewer opportunities open to them due to their sexual orientation and women continue to make less money than men due to historically and socially engrained prejudices. These are both a result of sexuality and gender being commodified, with heterosexual men benefiting and having a higher social value.
Holmes, Andrew. Commoditization and the Strategic Response. Abingdon: Gower Publishing
Ltd., 2008.
The following model for commoditization (same as commodification) has been taken directly from the text:
1. Each wave builds on the last as opportunities for further commoditization begin to diminish in the existing category and new targets are identified within the next. In fact many of the technological and commercial breakthroughs we have today would not have been possible without commoditization. Its ability to exert a strong downward pressure on price allows otherwise costly innovations to take hold and thrive.
2. The scale and impact of commoditization increases with each wave as the previous wave sets the foundations for the next. Some of the basic commodities such as coal had to reach a level of commoditization before related industries such as rail could emerge and then, over time, become commoditized themselves. In a similar vein the latest wave of white-collar commoditization has its foundations in the industrial wave as well as the technological and economic changes that have been brought about through the Internet and globalization. This final wave of commoditization depends on the combination of stable and cheap technologies, standardized processes and the availability of a cheap and well educated labour force. The speed of commoditization has increased with each successive wave. (9-10)
Masover, Hal. Value Investing in Commodity Futures: How to Profit with Scale Trading.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2001.
From an economic standpoint, the main commodity groups involve “futures markets [that] are traditionally divided into several categories:
Grains— wheat, corn, soybeans, oats, rice, and so on.
Meats— cattle, hogs, pork bellies, and so on.
Softs— other agricultural commodities, such as coffee, sugar and cocoa.
Metals— gold, silver, copper, platinum, and so on.
Energies— crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, and so on.
Financials— stock indexes, such as the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500, and interest rates, such as Treasury bonds and the Eurodollar.
Currencies— Japanese yen, Swiss franc, U.S. dollar, and so on.” (163)
Analysis: After finding so many books on how anything can be commodified—from human sexuality to water—I thought it was interesting to conclude with a merely economic perspective on what a commodity could be. I found the economist’s viewpoint to be the most straight forward and simple.
The "Mascotting" of Native America: Construction, Commodity, and Assimilation. Jason Edward Black
American Indian Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Autumn, 2002), pp. 605-622 _(article consists of 18 pages)
Published by: University of Nebraska Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4128504
The “Mascotting” of Native America
Construction, Commodity, and Assimilation
Writer Jason Black explores what he explains as the mascotting of Native American culture. Native American imagery appears often in sport mascots both at the professional and collegiate level. It’s also seen as advertisement images on goods such as butter, mainstream movies, and cigarettes. He discusses the construction of indigenous identity through commoditization and assimilation as desired by Euramerican mainstreamers. Goes on to discuss the materialization of groups of people, in particular the indigenous tribes of the Seminoles, while simultaneously encouraging biases and prejudices that have a negative effect on contemporary indigenous populations, which prevents them from being understood and accepted as fellow Americans.
Article: Mascots: Performance and Fetishism in Sport Culture
By: Mary C. Daily (Boston College)
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/drama/platform/issues/Vol.3No.1/Mascots.pdf
Explores the commoditization of mascots through the origin of the mascot and Marxist theories of fetishism. The mascot came into being in the 1880’s through a popularized operetta in which the main character was believed to bring luck to those around her. The idea of the mascot as being something that brings luck and good fortune thus arose. Fetishism, an ideology generated by Charles de Brosses, is the act of ascribing supernatural power of worship. Karl Marx followed with a groundbreaking study on fetishism, commodities, and materialism. The act of mascotting has become a capitalistic success, bringing large monetary profits, not to the actor portraying the mascot, but rather the franchise, industry, or as this essay emphasizes the sport team. Commodity fetishism, describes the concept of ascribing a sense of supernatural powers to objects that are believed to bring good fortune to those correlated with the mascot. Mascots thus become revenue generators and commodities. It is important to note that the commoditization of a mascot is not possible without the audience becoming a believer in the actor portraying the mascot and thus determines the reception of the mascot. “The invention and progress seem to result in endowing material forces with intellectual life and stultifying human life with a material force”
Outline of Marx’s “The Fetishism of Commodities”
From Capital, A critique of Political Economy
I found a clear and succinct review of Marx’s theories regarding the distinguishing of commodities as exchangeable goods within the economy of markets.
http://www.socialtheory.info/commodity_fetishism.htm
Basically reviews Marx's theories regarding commodity value. Value is defined accordingly to the exchange power a particular good holds within markets, as opposed to the amount of labor needed to generate a good. It also touches on the commodification of labor whose value is also defined by its ability to be exchanged. Humanity, a part of people and the labor they generate, is thus perceived as being a commodity to be exchanged in the market. Thus commodities appear to be independent of the people that produce them—-and appear to rule over them, according to 'natural' laws. These same economists do not see their own fetishisms, however. They especially fail to see, for example, that capital has no value other than what people give it through their labor. And above all, they fail to see that commodities have no value in themselves. All the value of commodities comes from the labor that created them.
Article:
Cashing in on the Other: Race, Commodities and the Surveillance of the Contemporary Athlete
By: David Leonard
http://www.popmatters.com/sports/features/050126-nikecommercials.shtml
This article speculates against the popularized notion that the common appearance of African American athletes in endorsement commercials such as Nike, Adidas, sport drinks and more of the like is indicative of a removal of racial discourse. Several commercials commoditize upon the black athlete and claim to be evidence of the acceptance of black athletes within the sports, a positive change to earlier times of intolerance. The popular discourse of such commercials, however, overshadow the realities of racial discourse. The black man body is commodified and inevitably portrayed through animalistic ways representing a threat to traditional values. The sports media constructs such images in an effort to maximize profits and sell a vision of contemporary sports.
Book: Studies in Symbolic Interaction v.33
There is a preview available on website
http://books.google.com/books?id=nusjufQCFIYC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=commodity+race&source=bl&ots=1ehJIs7qU2&sig=ggQjYJt30eXUSZ5l2iRRczfFUe8&hl=en&ei=be7MS4GGNKKeMr61kYgF&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CBYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=commodity%20race&f=false
Part two of this book examines commodity racism: representation, racialization and resistance. Several authors have written essays concerning a range of topics concerning the effects of turning race into a commodity. The essays discuss contemporary issues regarding racism and commodities as are targeted and seen within brand images of Native Americans, the surveillance of black athletes, Hawaiian tourism and the reinterpretation of Latino culture.
Has My Race Become A Commodity?
http://educatorblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/race-commodification/
This is a personal reflection I found interesting about a self evaluation of identity conducted by an "aspiring educator" when applying for a teachers ed program. The blogger question whether race has become a commodity when basically asked to talk about her\his blackness, in one page, for a teacher's ed application. He\she gives her response to the application question as well as giving a personal perspective on the issue.
Book: Capital volume 1, A critique of Political Economy
Marx explores the commodity and the roles and interactions it holds within economic markets and socially amongst human interactions. He aims to uncover and explain the laws specific to the capitalist mode of production and of the class struggles rooted in capitalist social relations of production. Marx presents his theories concerning the social interaction between commodities and resulting methods of determining a good's use-value as a commodity, which for some counterintuitive reason does not always resonate off the amount of human labor imputed into the production of the good. A good as Marx explains does not become a commodity until it is compared with another good and thus its exchange value is determined. A commodity is then given its value thru exchange ideally in consideration of its labor input value. However, as time passes, Marx explains that the value of labor (input) is forgotten and set up at a unchanging fixed rate set in the past (when labor-time was still a value determinant). He describes this as commodity fetishism, which refers to a commodity good that is given its value based on some mystical property rather than a labor-time determinant.
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