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Table of Contents
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
“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
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/.