Commodities a Commodity Is Simply a Term

Commodities

A commodity is simply a term that describes any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs (Marx, 1857). Marx described "commodity fetishism" as the transformation of goods into living things that are believed to have intrinsic market value at the expense of dehumanizing relationships and labor (Marx, 1857). Recently, anthropologist Nestor Garcia Canclini coined the phrase "Commodities are good for thinking" to describe the notion that the realm of consumption is just as important as production to understanding hybrid cultures (Canclini, 1995). Hybrid cultures are just what the term implies, cultures that are a mixture of values and norms from different societies that converge on a specific culture. However, the saying was probably originated by cultural anthropologists Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood to describe the notion that commodities were important in understanding how visible and stable categories of culture are determined by goods and services in a society (Douglas & Isherwood, 1979).

What Douglas and Isherwood (1979) were trying to convey was the notion that economists view commodities from the economic standpoint, their value and use, whereas from a cultural standpoint a commodity should be understood with reference to the rituals and relationships that they produce and how they fit into cultural identities. Commodities are nonverbal mediums for human creativity and consumer choices are in reality moral decisions regarding everything in a modern culture. For example, consumer choices in a culture signify the meaning of "masculinity" or "femininity" or any number of cultural labels. In a consumer culture the purchasing of something like an automobile is more than just a purchase; in fact, such a purchase indicates one's values, goals, status, and even one's social network. Thus, many people experience the desire to possess what other people possess as their main driving force. This goal defines them and is perpetuated in a society of consumerism and material want. In modern-day capitalist societies and even non- -- capitalist societies commodities define the perceptions of the mainstream culture and these perceptions can fuel counterculture activities for those that do not accept them.

There certainly is some validity to the notion that commodities can describe aspects of a culture in terms of a "point estimation." A point estimation refers to understanding a specific concept at a specific time, hence the term "point." However, commodities come and go and cannot fully describe the day-to-day struggles, the more intrinsic needs and values, and the higher values of the people within a culture. Moreover, commodities are limited as signs of a culture by their affordability. Marx referred to this "mystification" of commodities as being actual entities as opposed to mere goods and services. The idea that one's ownership of a particular automobile for example may in some way define their goals and social relationships is tempered by what they can actually afford and what basically fits into their lifestyle. A married man with four children may own a minivan and a station wagon, but he may deeply desire to own a Lamborghini. Likewise, a farmer may own a set of horses and plow but may desire to own the latest tractors and farm equipment. Commodities are not actual entities and the desire to own certain commodities is reflection on personal dreams and cultural values, but this is not always reflected in the actual ownership of commodities themselves.