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-~~DECKJS~~
-# Commodification and Fetishism #
-## Commodification and fetishism ##
-Ryan Schram
-ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au
-Mills 169 (A26)
-Wednesday, August 12, 2015
-Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/1002/3.2
-## Where we left off ##
-On Monday, we began to discuss commodity exchange. We turned to Marx
-to know where it has come from.
-Let C represent a good, e.g. boots, cell phone, gum.
-Let M represent money.
-. **C - M - C'** *The simple exchange of goods.*
-. **M - C - M'** *The making of profit through the exchange of commodities.*
-Marx wants to know why society moved from #1 to #2.
-## Commodities ##
-The real value of a commodity comes from the labor that goes into it.
-Commodities are "congealed labor" (Marx 1859, Part I).
-## The fetishism of commodities ##
-{{:kruger.shop.jpg|Barbara Kruger, Untitled ("I shop therefore I am"),
-}}
-"A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily
-understood. Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer
-thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties."
-"[A table is just wood made useful by work.] But, so soon as it steps
-forth as a commodity, it is changed into something transcendent."
-(Marx 1867, vol 1, sect. 4)
-## Mauss and Marx? ##
-Mauss does not equal Marx. Mauss doesn't talk about commodities. Marx
-does not talk about gifts.
-But... There seems to be a parallel between them.
-## Mauss and Marx ##
-Mauss is interested in demonstrating that solidarity to the group and
-interdependence of group members is necessary to many kinds of
-exchanges.
-Marx is interested in explaining why capitalist society is tearing
-itself apart.
-Gifts: Exchange of un-alienated labor
-Commodities: Exchange that denies the possibility of reciprocity
-## DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND? ##
-Gifts and commodities are based opposed logics of what makes something
-valuable.
-## When a gift system meets a commodity system ##
-When a society organized on the basis of gifts encounters a globalizing capitalist market, many different outcomes are possible:
-  * Tension and conflict
-  * Efflorescence
-  * Transformation
-Most of the situations we associate with globalization, even though they are very different, can be understood as variations on this theme: gift meets commodity.
-## Report from The Sepik River ##
-{{:village_trade_store_1.jpg?400|A trade store in Tambunum village, East Sepik Province, PNG, 1988}}
-{{ :village_trade_store_inside_3.jpg?400|Goods on sale in a trade store in Tambunum village, East Sepik Province, PNG, 1988}}
-## The commodification of life itself ##
-Anything that has value can be transformed by capital into a
-commodity.
-People can be alienated from elements of their community and culture
-which contribute to their own livelihood.
-Nature is commodified. It is transformed from ecology into resources.
-Culture is commodified. Culture becomes ... ?
-## References ##
-Kruger, Barbara. 1987. Untitled ("I Shop Therefore I
-Am"). Photographic silkscreen on vinyl.
-http://www.art21.org/files/imagecache/full_image/images/kruger-photo-002.jpg.
-Marx, Karl. 1859. A Contribution to the Critique of Political
-Economy. Moscow: Progress
-Publishers. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/.
-Marx, Karl. 1887. Capital, Vol. 1. Moscow: Progress
-Publishers. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/.

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