View source for Commodification

{{Short description|Transformation of goods, services, ideas and people into commodities or objects of trade}}
{{Distinguish|commoditization}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

'''Commodification''' is the process of transforming inalienable, free, or gifted things (objects, services, ideas, nature, personal information, people or animals) into commodities, or objects for sale.<ref name="humanbe22">{{cite web |last1=Maloney |first1=Lauren |title=The Commodification of Human Beings |date=19 November 2015 |url=http://nulawreview.org/extralegalrecent/the-commodification-of-human-beings |access-date=26 February 2020 |publisher=nulawreview.org}}</ref><ref name="thehum22">{{cite news |last1=Wilsterman |first1=James M. |date=2008 |title=The Human Commodity |work=thecrimson |publisher=thecrimson.com |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2008/6/4/the-human-commodity-nice-harvard-degree/ |access-date=26 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="AniSlavBody2">For animals, [http://comtrade.un.org/db/mr/rfCommoditiesList.aspx "United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database"], UN ComTrade; [[Josephine Donovan]], "Aestheticizing Animal Cruelty," ''College Literature'', 38(4), Fall 2011 (pp. 202–217), p. 203. {{JSTOR|41302895}}{{pb}}For slaves as commodities, Appadurai 1986, pp. 84–85; David Hawkes, ''Shakespeare and Economic Theory'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015, p. 130.{{pb}}For body commodification, Lesley A. Sharp, "The Commodification of the Body and Its Parts," ''Annual Review of Anthropology'', 29, 2000 (pp. 287–328) p. 295ff. {{JSTOR|223423}}</ref><ref name="commodification"/><ref name="Hearn-2017">{{Citation |last=Hearn |first=Alison |title=Keywords for Media Studies |chapter=13. Commodification |date=2017-03-14 |pages=43–46 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.18574/nyu/9781479817474.003.0016/html |access-date=2024-01-29 |publisher=New York University Press |language=en |doi=10.18574/nyu/9781479817474.003.0016 |isbn=978-1-4798-1747-4}}</ref> It has a connotation of losing an inherent quality or social relationship when something is integrated by a capitalist marketplace.<ref name="Hearn-2017" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Derek |title=Does capitalism drive towards the commodification of everything? |journal=[[Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space]] |date=2024 |volume=56 |issue=7 |pages=1916–1935 |doi=10.1177/0308518X241254664 |bibcode=2024EnPlA..56.1916H |doi-access=free}}</ref> Concepts that have been argued as being commodified include broad items such as the body,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharp |first=Lesley A. |date=2000-10-21 |title=The Commodification of the Body and its Parts |url=http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.287 |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |language=en |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=287–328 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.287 |issn=0084-6570 |pmid=15977341|url-access=subscription }}</ref> intimacy,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Constable |first=Nicole |date=October 2009 |title=The Commodification of Intimacy: Marriage, Sex, and Reproductive Labor |url=http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085133 |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=49–64 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.37.081407.085133 |issn=0084-6570|url-access=subscription }}</ref> public goods,<ref name="neolib.uga.edu">{{Cite web |title=Commodification {{!}} Neoliberalism |url=http://neolib.uga.edu/commodification.php |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=neolib.uga.edu |language=en}}</ref> animals<ref name="Nibert20112">{{cite book |last=Nibert |first=David |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739136973/The-Global-Industrial-Complex-Systems-of-Domination |title=The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination |date=2011 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0-7391-3698-0 |editor1=Steven Best |editor1-link=Steven Best |pages=197–209 |chapter=Origins and Consequences of the Animal Industrial Complex |author-link=David Nibert |editor2=Richard Kahn |editor3=Anthony J. Nocella II |editor4=Peter McLaren |editor4-link=Peter McLaren}}</ref> and holidays.<ref name="In These Times-2018">{{Cite web |title=We Can Reclaim Christmas from Capitalism |url=https://inthesetimes.com/article/we-can-reclaim-christmas-from-capitalism |access-date=2021-11-16 |website=In These Times |date=20 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Terminology ===
The earliest use of the word "commodification" dates from 1975.<ref name="commodification">commodification, n. Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010. <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/37198>; accessed 6 January 2011.</ref> Use of the concept of commodification became common with the rise of critical discourse analysis in [[semiotics]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Critical Discourse Analysis and Stylistics |url=http://www.pulib.sk/elpub2/FF/Ferencik/13.pdf |access-date=22 September 2011}}</ref> The terms commodification and [[commoditization]] are sometimes used synonymously,<ref>''Robert Hartwell Fiske's Dictionary of Unendurable English: A Compendium of Mistakes in Grammar, Usage, and Spelling with commentary on lexicographers and linguists,'' Robert Hartwell Fiske, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JZqfZfIvtlsC&pg=PA99&dq=commoditize p. 99]</ref> to describe the process of making [[Commodity|commodities]] out of goods, services, and ideas.<ref>Appadurai 1986, also cited in Martha M. Ertman, Joan C. Williams, ''Rethinking commodification'', 2005, in Afterword by Carol Rose, pp. 402–403. This cites various uses of ''commodification'' to mean "become a commodity market", and considers the use of ''commodification'' (Peggy Radin, 1987) and ''commoditization'' (Appadurai 1986) as equivalent.</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Greenwood, D.J. |date=1977 |title=Culture by the Pound: An Anthropological Perspective on Tourism as Cultural Commoditization |pages=129–139 |journal=Hosts and Guests |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |editor=V. L. Smith}}</ref>

However, other authors distinguish them, with commodification used in social contexts to mean that a non-commercial good has become commercial, typically with connotations of "corrupted by commerce", while commoditization is used in business contexts to mean when the market for an existing product has become a commodity market, where products are interchangeable and there is heavy price competition. In a quip: "Microprocessors are commoditized. Love is commodified."<ref name="surowiecki">{{cite journal |last=Surowiecki |first=James |author-link=James Surowiecki |date=1998-01-30 |title=The Commoditization Conundrum |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_motley_fool/1998/01/the_commoditization_conundrum.html |journal=Slate |access-date=2015-08-16 |quote=What corporations fear is the phenomenon now known, rather inelegantly, as "commoditization." What the term means is simply the conversion of the market for a given product into a commodity market, which is characterized by declining prices and profit margins, increasing competition, and lowered barriers to entry. ("Commoditization" is therefore different from "commodification," the word cultural critics use to decry the corruption of higher goods by commercial values. Microprocessors are commoditized. Love is commodified.)}}</ref>

=== In Marxist theory ===
[[File:Marx_color.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Karl Marx considered commodity a cell-form of capitalism.]]
The [[Commodity (Marxism)|Marxist understanding of ''commodity'']] is distinct from its meaning in business. Commodity played a key role throughout [[Karl Marx]]'s work; he considered it a cell-form of [[capitalism]] and a key starting point for an analysis of this politico-economic system.<ref>{{cite web |author=Prodnik, Jernej |date=2012 |title=A Note on the Ongoing Processes of Commodification: From the Audience Commodity to the Social Factory |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/94847331/Prodnik-Jernej-A-Note-on-the-Ongoing-Processes-of-Commodification-From-the-Audience-Commodity-to-the-Social-Factory |access-date=30 March 2013 |via=Scribd |pages=274–301}}</ref> Marx extensively criticized the social impact of commodification under the name [[commodity fetishism]] and [[Marx's theory of alienation|alienation]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Marx, Karl |date=1867 |title=Capital: A Critique of Political Economy |volume=1 |chapter=Chapter 1, Section 3: The Form of Value or Exchange-Value, Part 4 The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret thereof |chapter-url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch01.htm#S4 |publisher=Progress Press, Moscow |via=Marxists Internet Archive}}</ref>

Prior to being turned into a commodity, an object has a "specific individual use value".<ref name="Hearn-2">Hearn, A. (2017). Commodification. In L. Ouellette, & J. Gray (Eds.), ''Keywords for media studies''. New York University Press. Credo Reference: https://uri.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/nyupresskms/commodification/0?institutionId=4949</ref> After becoming a commodity, that same object has a different value: the amount for which it can be exchanged for another commodity.<ref name="Hearn-2" /> According to Marx, this new value of the commodity is derived from the time taken to produce the good, and other considerations are obsolete, including morality, environmental impact, and aesthetic appeal.<ref name="Hearn-2" />

Marx claimed that everything would eventually be commodified: "the things which until then had been communicated, but never exchanged, given, but never sold, acquired, but never bought – virtue, love, conscience – all at last enter into commerce."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Leopold |first=David |title=Karl Marx |entry=Karl Marx |date=2015-04-29 |editor=Duncan Pritchard |encyclopedia=Philosophy |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/obo/9780195396577-0265 |isbn=978-0-19-539657-7}}</ref>

=== Mass communication studies ===
Media, as a culture [[Industrial Revolution|industry]], is apparent from the rise of mass communications to monetize a populace for profit. Research in critical cultural studies of media effects identify commodification of culture as a recent large contributing force for the disruption of a society by mass media. An example is the display of American culture to the population within its borders and abroad. The commodity being sold is the United States, but mediated to show only the most exciting, dramatic, attention-getting, emotion-rousing aspects. Media corporations are expert at analyzing and selecting appealing elements of the culture, then repackaging and enhancing those elements for a wide audience. The quest for large viewership creates an image that does not show boring, unpleasant, or minority aspects of the United States. The distribution of the alternate form of the culture, for profit, causes misconceptions and stereotyping along with disruption of the original folk culture. Within the United States, the commodification of culture is the mediated view of American society accepted as the culture and even advanced by the culture depicted; the example given is hip-hop and rap music artists stars "selling out". The United States, with media corporations less prone to governmental interference, is successful at spreading American culture worldwide.<ref name="Davis, D. K.-2015">{{Cite book |author=Baran, S. J. |title=Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future (Seventh edition.) |author2=Davis, D. K. |publisher=Cengage Learning. |year=2015 |pages=328–331 |isbn=978-81-315-2912-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/masscommunicatio0000bara_n8z5/page/328/mode/1up}}</ref>

Critical cultural research reveal consequences for the lifting of bits of culture, remolding for a mass audience, then selling the alternate view. A few of repercussions of commodification of culture: Only selected, majority cultural practices are shown leaving out other important minority cultures which are overlooked and/or ignored. As in Hollywood movies, only the most exciting, dramatic, emotional aspects are presented while removing unpleasant, controversial or uninteresting aspects. The success of marketing a culture entails distributing as much content as possible to the largest audience, causing disruption of everyday life. Elite media industries are ignorant or deny effects of mass marketing, by avoidance or by explaining that the media has limited effects. There are many types of disruptions, some subtle, many obvious, including propagation of misconceptions, loss of sense of place, a major focus on entertainment, loss of childhood, cultivation, and a disruption of social conventions.<ref name="Davis, D. K.-2015"/>

== Commodification of life ==

=== Animal commodification ===
{{Main|Commodification of animals}}
{{see also|Animal-industrial complex}}
The commodification of animals is one of the earliest forms of commodification, which can be traced back to the time when [[domestication]] of animals began.<ref name="Nibert20112"/> It includes [[Human uses of animals|the use of animals]] in all forms,<ref name="BestIntro20112">{{cite book |last=Best |first=Steven |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739136973/The-Global-Industrial-Complex-Systems-of-Domination |title=The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination |date=2011 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0-7391-3698-0 |editor1=Steven Best |editor1-link=Steven Best |pages=ix–xxv |chapter=Introduction: Pathologies of Power and the Rise of the Global Industrial Complex |editor2=Richard Kahn |editor3=Anthony J. Nocella II |editor4=Peter McLaren |editor4-link=Peter McLaren |author-link=Steven Best}}</ref>{{Rp|xvi–xvii}} including use of animals for [[Factory farm|food]], [[Human uses of animals#In medicine|medicine]], [[Cosmetics#Animal testing|fashion and cosmetics]], [[Animal testing|medical research]], [[Working animals|labor and transport]], [[Animals in sport|entertainment]], [[wildlife trade]], [[Pet industry|companionship]], and so forth.<ref name="BJC_Beirne20212">{{cite journal |last=Beirne |first=Piers |date=May 2021 |title=Wildlife Trade and COVID-19: Towards a Criminology of Anthropogenic Pathogen Spillover |url=https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/61/3/607/6031472?login=true |journal=The British Journal of Criminology |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=607–626 |doi=10.1093/bjc/azaa084 |issn=1464-3529 |pmc=7953978 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="Arcari20202">{{cite journal |last=Arcari |first=Paula |date=May 2020 |title=Disconnection & Demonisation: COVID-19 Shows Why We Need to Stop Commodifying All Animals |url=https://ssrn.com/abstract=3599772 |journal=Social Sciences & Humanities Open |doi=10.2139/ssrn.3599772 |s2cid=225822910 |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref> Scholars say that the commodification of nonhuman animals in food systems is directly linked to capitalist systems that prioritize "monopolistically inclined financial interests" over the well-being of humans, nonhumans, and the environment.<ref name="Repka20192">{{cite book |last=Repka |first=Meneka |url=https://www.peterlang.com/view/9781433157899/chapter06.xhtml |title=Education for Total Liberation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and Teaching Against Speciesism |date=2019 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-1-4331-5789-9 |editor1-last=Nocella Ii |editor1-first=Anthony J |edition=1 |series=Radical Animal Studies and Total Liberation |location=New York |doi=10.3726/b14204 |editor2-last=Drew |editor2-first=Carolyn |editor3-last=George |editor3-first=Amber E |editor4-last=Ketenci |editor4-first=Sinem |editor5-last=Lupinacci |editor5-first=John |editor6-last=Purdy |editor6-first=Ian |editor7-last=Leeson-Schatz |editor7-first=Joe |s2cid=240272942}}</ref> Over 200 billion land and aquatic animals are killed every year to provide humans with animal products for consumption, which many scholars and activists have described as an "[[Holocaust analogy in animal rights|animal holocaust]]".<ref name="Benatar20152">{{cite book |last=Benatar |first=David |title=Permissible Progeny?: The Morality of Procreation and Parenting |date=2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-937812-8 |editor1=S. Hannan |page=44 |chapter=The Misanthropic Argument for Anti-natalism |author-link=David Benatar |editor2=S. Brennan |editor3=R. Vernon |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6dBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA44}}</ref><ref name="Best20142">{{cite book |last=Best |first=Steven |title=The Politics of Total Liberation: Revolution for the 21st Century |date=2014 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-1-137-47111-6}}</ref>{{Rp|29–32, 97}}<ref name="Hedges20152">{{cite web |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=3 August 2015 |title=A Haven From the Animal Holocaust |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-haven-from-the-animal-holocaust-2/ |access-date=29 August 2021 |website=[[Truthdig]] }}</ref> The extensive use of land and other resources for the production of meat instead of grain for human consumption is a leading cause of malnutrition, hunger, and famine around the world.<ref name="Nibert20112" />{{Rp|204}}

=== Human commodification ===
[[File:Suppressed_-_Human_flesh_at_auction.jpg|right|thumb|Human flesh at auction by Van Ingen Snyder.]]
Commodification of humans have been discussed in various context, from [[slavery]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rinehart |first=Nicholas T |date=2016-09-01 |title=The Man That Was a Thing: Reconsidering Human Commodification in Slavery |journal=Journal of Social History |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=28–50 |doi=10.1093/jsh/shv129 |issn=0022-4529}}</ref> to [[surrogacy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=Nayana Hitesh |last2=Jadeja |first2=Yuvraj Digvijaysingh |last3=Bhadarka |first3=Harsha Karsan |last4=Patel |first4=Molina Niket |last5=Patel |first5=Niket Hitesh |last6=Sodagar |first6=Nilofar Rahematkhan |date=2018 |title=Insight into Different Aspects of Surrogacy Practices |journal=Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=212–218 |doi=10.4103/jhrs.JHRS_138_17 |issn=0974-1208 |pmc=6262674 |pmid=30568349 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neal |first=M. |date=2011-04-01 |title=Protecting Women: Preserving Autonomy in the Commodification of Motherhood |url=https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmjowl/vol17/iss3/5 |journal=William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice |volume=17 |issue=3 |page=611 |issn=1081-549X}}</ref> Auctions of cricket players by [[Indian Premier League]], [[Big Bash League]] and others is also discussed to be a case of human commodification.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rowe |first1=David |title=Media and Sport: The Cultural Dynamics of Global Games |journal=Sociology Compass |date=July 2009 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=543–558 |doi=10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00225.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=Cate |title=Test Match Special, Twenty20 and the future of cricket |journal=Sport in Society |date=December 2011 |volume=14 |issue=10 |pages=1383–1394 |doi=10.1080/17430437.2011.620379|s2cid=145758426 }}</ref> [[Virginity auction]]s are a further example of self-commodification.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Jennifer C. |last2=Vik |first2=Tennley A. |date=1 September 2014 |title=Virginity for Sale: A Foucauldian Moment in the History of Sexuality |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-013-9207-0 |journal=Sexuality & Culture |language=en |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=487–504 |doi=10.1007/s12119-013-9207-0 |issn=1936-4822 |s2cid=143947497 |access-date=3 July 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> ''Human commodity'' is a term used in case of human [[organ trade]], paid surrogacy (also known as commodification of the womb){{According to whom|date=April 2025}}, and [[human trafficking]].<ref name="humanbe22"/><ref name="thehum22"/><ref name="refbook">{{cite book |last1=Capron |first1=Alexander M. |title=New Cannibal Markets: Globalization and Commodification of the Human Body |date=2017 |publisher=Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme |isbn=978-2-7351-2285-1 |pages=397–416 |chapter=Human Commodification: Professions, Governments, and the Need for Further Exploration |chapter-url=https://books.openedition.org/editionsmsh/10808}}</ref> According to [[Gøsta Esping-Andersen]], people are commodified or 'turned into objects' when selling their labour on the market to an employer.<ref>{{cite book |last=Esping-Andersen |first=Gosta |url=http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1134169.files/Readings%20on%20Social%20Democracy/Esping%20Anderson%20-%20THe%20Three%20Worlds%20of%20Welfare%20Capitalism.pdf |title=The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-691-09457-8}}</ref>

=== Self-commodification ===
Personal information through [[Social networking service|social networking services]], such as music purchases, how people identify, and user profiles are aggregated and sold to corporations and businesses for [[microtargeting]], advertising and marketing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ess |first=Charles |title=Digital media ethics |date=2020 |publisher=Polity |isbn=978-1-5095-3342-8 |edition=Third |location=Cambridge Medford, MA}}</ref>

[[Social media influencers]] are also a recent examples of self-commodification. A travel blogger is an instance of a mediated micro-celebrity, the social-media influencer, targeting a niche audience interested in visiting exotic locales. Social media networks expand the reach of this focused audience to make influencing a profitable profession. They commodify themselves by offering online journals, advice, thoughts, experiences along with photographs and videos, then make money by selling books, self-branding, blog subscriptions, and [[advertorial]]s. Trust and an increased audience are built by expressing a conversational style, a seemingly real experience by a real person, allowing users connect to the blogger as a friendly voice offering advice on travel choices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Duffy |first1=Andrew |last2=Kang |first2=Hillary Yu Ping |date=2019-07-31 |title=Follow me, I'm famous: travel bloggers' self-mediated performances of everyday exoticism |journal=Media, Culture & Society |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=172–190 |doi=10.1177/0163443719853503 |s2cid=201407654 |issn=0163-4437}}</ref>

== Commodification of culture ==
Commodification of culture refers to the process by which market forces change the very fabric of cultures. Through [[consumer capitalism]], companies are able to influence things such as style, love and language. Critics argue this creates societal friction and leads to people growing disillusioned with reality. Companies often have opposing interests to the general population and yet still hold so much sway.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} 

=== Commodification of holidays ===
Many holidays such as [[Christmas]], [[Halloween]] or [[Valentine's Day]] have been argued as having become commodified.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Groom |first=Nick |date=2018-10-02 |title=Hallowe'en and Valentine: The Culture of Saints' Days in the English-Speaking World |journal=Folklore |volume=129 |issue=4 |pages=331–352 |doi=10.1080/0015587X.2018.1510651 |issn=0015-587X |s2cid=165870855}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Valentine's Day and the Commodification of Love or the Economic Impacts of Courtship – City REDI Blog |url=https://blog.bham.ac.uk/cityredi/valentines-day-and-the-commodification-of-love-or-the-economic-impacts-of-courtship/ |access-date=2021-03-18 |website=blog.bham.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Cox |first=Patrick |title=Christmas |date=2015 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs260 |pages=1–2 |access-date=2021-03-18 |publisher=American Cancer Society |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781118989463.wbeccs260 |isbn=978-1-118-98946-3 |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Consumption and Consumer Studies|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The commodification of a holiday refers to making celebrations necessarily commercial and based on material goods, like gift giving, elaborate decorations, trick or treating, and card giving. Modern celebrations of many holidays are now more related to the commercial practices and profitable tactics than they are to the holidays' origins.<ref name="Morton-2015">{{Cite web |last=Morton |first=Lisa |title=All hail the commodification of Halloween: Over the years, companies profiting off the holiday are what have made it an American favorite |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/lisa-morton-hail-commodification-halloween-article-1.2417597 |access-date=2021-11-16 |website=nydailynews.com|date=30 October 2015 }}</ref> For some holidays, like Halloween, there are arguments that the commodification of the original holiday turned it into the celebrations that people now love.<ref name="Morton-2015" /> The commodification of other holidays, like Christmas, sparks arguments about undoing the commercialization and getting back to the intended spirit of the holiday.'''''<ref name="In These Times-2018"/>'''''<gallery>
File:Macy's_at_Christmas_-_Ridgedale_Mall_(40117698064).jpg|alt=Christmas at Macy's|Christmas
File:Bombones_-_San_Valentín.jpg|Valentine's Day
File:Halloween_at_Tesco_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2661272.jpg|Halloween
File:St._Patrick's_Day_Parade_(4430713858).jpg|St. Patrick's day
File:Easter_chocolate_in_suburban_food_store_in_Brisbane,_Australia_in_2018.jpg|alt=Commodification of Easter|Easter
File:1a1-sydney_new_years_eve_2008.JPG|alt=Commodification of NYE|New Year's Eve
</gallery>

=== Commodification of indigenous cultures ===
[[File:Bell_hooks,_October_2014.jpg|alt=bell hooks, Gloria Jean Watkins, October 2014|thumb|225x225px|[[bell hooks]], educator and social critic.]]
American author and feminist [[bell hooks]] described the cultural commodification of race and difference as the dominant culture "eating the other". To hooks, cultural expressions of [[Other (philosophy)|Otherness]], even revolutionary ones, are sold to the dominant culture for their enjoyment, with any messages of social change being marketed not for their messages but used as a mechanism for the dominant ones to acquire a piece of the "primitive".<ref>hooks, bell 1992. ''Black Looks: Race and Representation'' (South End Press)</ref> Any interests in past historical culture almost always have a modern twist. According to Mariana Torgovnick:<blockquote>What is clear now is that the West's fascination with the primitive has to do with its own crises in identity, with its own need to clearly demarcate subject and object even while flirting with other ways of experiencing the universe.<ref>Torgovnick, Marianna 1991. ''Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives'' (Chicago)</ref></blockquote>hooks states that [[Social exclusion|marginalized groups]] are seduced by this concept because of "the promise of recognition and reconciliation".<blockquote>When the dominant culture demands that the Other be offered as sign that progressive political change is taking place, that the American Dream can indeed be inclusive of difference, it invites a resurgence of essentialist cultural nationalism.</blockquote>Commodification of indigenous cultures refers to "areas in the life of a community which prior to its penetration by tourism have not been within the domain of economic relations regulated by criteria of market exchange" (Cohen 1988, 372). An example of this type of cultural commodification can be described through viewing the perspective of Hawaiian cultural change since the 1950s. The Hawaiian [[lūʻau]] was once a traditional party reserved for community members and local people, but through the rise of tourism, this tradition has lost part of its cultural meaning and is now mostly a "for profit" performance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Erik |date=1988 |title=Authenticity and commodification in tourism |journal=Annals of Tourism Research |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=371–386 |doi=10.1016/0160-7383(88)90028-X}}</ref>

=== Commodification of love ===
Examples of profiting from love are the myriad ''[[The Bachelor (franchise)|The Bachelor]]'' television shows, and the increase in luxury hotels catering to singles during Valentine's Day weekends'''''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lipton |first=L |date=2003 |title=In Selling Valentine's Day, U.S. Marketers Decide To Broaden 'Love' Concept --- Hotels Look Beyond Couples to Woo Singles, Pet Set; You, Me -- and Fido |work=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref>'''''

=== Commodification of media, Internet and online communities ===
Digital commodification occurs when, a business or corporation uses information from an online community without their knowledge, for profit. The commodification of information allows a higher authority to make money rather than a collaborative system of free thoughts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Niemeyer |first1=Katharina |last2=Keightley |first2=Emily |date=2020-09-01 |title=The commodification of time and memory: Online communities and the dynamics of commercially produced nostalgia |journal=New Media & Society |language=en |volume=22 |issue=9 |pages=1639–1662 |doi=10.1177/1461444820914869 |issn=1461-4448 |s2cid=214293153|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/10265807 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lupton |first=Deborah |date=2014 |title=The commodification of patient opinion: the digital patient experience economy in the age of big data |journal=Sociology of Health & Illness |language=en |volume=36 |issue=6 |pages=856–869 |doi=10.1111/1467-9566.12109 |issn=1467-9566 |pmid=24443847 |doi-access=free|hdl=2123/9063 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Currah |first=Andrew |date=2007-08-01 |title=Managing creativity: the tensions between commodities and gifts in a digital networked environment |journal=Economy and Society |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=467–494 |doi=10.1080/03085140701428415 |issn=0308-5147 |s2cid=145631922}}</ref> Corporations such as [[Google]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[Facebook]], [[Netflix]], and [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] accelerate and concentrate the commodification of online communities.<ref name="Hearn-2"/> Digital tracking, like [[HTTP cookie|cookies]], have further commodified the use of the internet, giving each click, view, or stream monetary value, even if it is an interaction with free content.

=== Commodification of public goods ===
[[Public goods]] are goods for which users cannot be barred from accessing or using them for failing to pay for them. However, such goods can also be commodified by value addition in the form of products or services or both.<ref name="neolib.uga.edu"/> Public goods like air<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jose |first=George |date=2017-09-03 |title=Hawa khaana in Vasai Virar |url=https://rsa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13604813.2017.1374779 |journal=City |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=632–640 |doi=10.1080/13604813.2017.1374779 |bibcode=2017City...21..632J |issn=1360-4813 |s2cid=149420789|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burawoy |first=Michael |date=2010-05-31 |title=From Polanyi to Pollyanna: The False Optimism of Global Labor Studies |url=https://escarpmentpress.org/globallabour/article/view/1079 |journal=Global Labour Journal |volume=1 |issue=2 |doi=10.15173/glj.v1i2.1079 |issn=1918-6711 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and water<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barlow |first=Maude |date=2001-02-01 |title=Commodification of water – the wrong prescription |journal=Water Science and Technology |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=79–84 |doi=10.2166/wst.2001.0183 |issn=0273-1223 |pmid=11379230|bibcode=2001WSTec..43...79B }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Reason – The Commodification of the Public Service of Water: A Normative Perspective |url=http://publicreason.ro/articol/56 |access-date=2021-06-15 |website=publicreason.ro}}</ref> can be subjected to commodification.
{{See also|Commodification of water}}

=== Commodification of subcultures ===
Various subcultures have been argued to as having become commodified, for example the [[goth subculture]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spracklen |first1=Karl |last2=Spracklen |first2=Beverley |date=2014-04-01 |title=The strange and spooky battle over bats and black dresses: The commodification of Whitby Goth Weekend and the loss of a subculture |journal=Tourist Studies |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=86–102 |doi=10.1177/1468797613511688 |issn=1468-7976 |s2cid=145623916|url=https://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/eprint/165/1/The%20Strange%20and%20Spooky%20Battle%20over%20Bats%20and%20Black%20Dresses.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cova |first1=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvAJBAAAQBAJ&q=%22Commodification%22+subculture&pg=PA227 |title=Consumer Tribes |last2=Kozinets |first2=Robert |last3=Shankar |first3=Avi |date=2012-06-25 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-41467-1 |language=en}}</ref> the biker subculture,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Krier |first1=Daniel |last2=Swart |first2=William J. |date=2016-01-01 |title=The Commodification of Spectacle: Spectators, Sponsors and the Outlaw Biker Diegesis at Sturgis |journal=Critical Sociology |language=en |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=11–32 |doi=10.1177/0896920514524605 |issn=0896-9205 |s2cid=145097590}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Austin |first1=D. Mark |last2=Gagne |first2=Patricia |last3=Orend |first3=Angela |date=2010 |title=Commodification and Popular Imagery of the Biker in American Culture |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00781.x |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture |language=en |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=942–963 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00781.x |issn=1540-5931|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the tattoo subculture,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kosut |first=Mary |date=2006 |title=An Ironic Fad: The Commodification and Consumption of Tattoos |journal=The Journal of Popular Culture |language=en |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=1035–1048 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00333.x |issn=1540-5931|doi-access=free }}</ref> the [[witchcraft]] subculture,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berger |first=Helen A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nng-dAooleAC&q=%22Commodification%22+halloween&pg=PA137 |title=Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America |date=2006-09-25 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1971-5 |language=en}}</ref> and others.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schiele |first1=Kristen |last2=Venkatesh |first2=Alladi |date=2016-09-02 |title=Regaining control through reclamation: how consumption subcultures preserve meaning and group identity after commodification |journal=Consumption Markets & Culture |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=427–450 |doi=10.1080/10253866.2015.1135797 |issn=1025-3866 |s2cid=146815933}}</ref>

=== Commodification of tourism ===
Tourism has been analyzed in the context of commodification as a process of transforming local cultures and heritage into marketable goods.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Russell |first1=Constance L. |last2=Ankenman |first2=M. J. |date=1996-01-01 |title=Orangutans as Photographic Collectibles: Ecotourism and The Commodification of Nature |journal=Tourism Recreation Research |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=71–78 |doi=10.1080/02508281.1996.11014765 |issn=0250-8281}}</ref><ref name="Shepherd 183–2012">{{Cite journal |last=Shepherd |first=Robert |date=2002-08-01 |title=Commodification, culture and tourism |journal=Tourist Studies |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=183–201 |doi=10.1177/146879702761936653 |issn=1468-7976 |s2cid=55744323}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kirtsoglou |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Theodossopoulos |first2=Dimitrios |date=2004-06-01 |title='They are Taking Our Culture Away': Tourism and Culture Commodification in the Garifuna Community of Roatan |journal=Critique of Anthropology |language=en |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=135–157 |doi=10.1177/0308275X04042650 |issn=0308-275X |s2cid=144331095|url=https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1557191 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cousins |first1=Jenny A. |last2=Evans |first2=James |last3=Sadler |first3=Jon |date=2009 |title=Selling Conservation? Scientific Legitimacy and the Commodification of Conservation Tourism |journal=Ecology and Society |volume=14 |issue=1 |article-number=art32 |doi=10.5751/ES-02804-140132 |issn=1708-3087 |jstor=26268031 |doi-access=free|hdl=10535/3507 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The commodification of tourism removes local culture from the foreground, replacing it with profitability from non-residents. This may be in the form of entertainment, souvenirs, food markets, or others. Tourism leads, in part, to the commodification of indigenous cultures as people return from visits with partial ideas and representations of the culture.<ref name="Shepherd 183–2012" />

== See also ==
{{cols}}
* [[Big data]]
* [[Commercialization]]
* [[Commercialization of love]]
* [[Commodification of animals]]
* [[Commodification of nature]]
* [[Decommodification]]
* [[Deregulation]]
* [[Exchange value]]
* [[Auction#Human commodity auctions|Human commodity auctions]]
* [[Privatization]]
* [[Value-form]]
* [[Globalization]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Farah, Paolo Davide, Tremolada Riccardo, Desirability of Commodification of Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Unsatisfying Role of IPRs, in TRANSNATIONAL DISPUTE MANAGEMENT, Special Issues "The New Frontiers of Cultural Law: Intangible Heritage Disputes", Volume 11, Issue 2, March 2014, {{ISSN|1875-4120}} Available at [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2472339 SSRN.com]
* Farah, Paolo Davide, Tremolada Riccardo, Intellectual Property Rights, Human Rights and Intangible Cultural Heritage, Journal of Intellectual Property Law, Issue 2, Part I,  June 2014, {{ISSN|0035-614X}}, Giuffre, pp.&nbsp;21–47. Available at [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2472388 SSRN.com]
* Schimank, Uwe and Volkmann, Ute (ed.): [https://web.archive.org/web/20130509203320/http://welfare-societies.com/uploads/file/WelfareSocietiesConferencePaper-No1_Schimank_Volkmann.pdf ''The Marketization of Society: Economizing the Non-Economic'']. Bremen: Research Cluster "Welfare Societies", 2012.

== Further reading ==
Polanyi, Karl. "The Self-Regulating Market," ''Economics as a Social Science'', 2nd edn, 2004.

{{Commodity}}
{{Marxist & Communist phraseology}}

[[Category:Marxist terminology]]
[[Category:Trade]]
[[Category:Commodification|*]]