Which of the following are features of capitalism as a social system?
(A) Commodification of labour power.
(B) Caste based networks of trading.
(C) Surplus value.
(D) Rising inequalities.
Choose the correct answer from the options below.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (C) and (D) only
(A) Commodification of labour power. Correct. Under the capitalist mode of production labour itself becomes a commodity, because workers must sell their labour power in the market to earn a wage.
(B) Caste based networks of trading. Incorrect. Caste-based trade, as among the Nakarattars, belongs to India’s traditional business communities, which existed long before colonial capitalism. Marx defined capitalism by production for the market through wage labour, not by caste networks.
(C) Surplus value. Correct. The capitalist class profits by paying the workers less than the value of what they actually produce, and so extracts surplus value from their labour.
(D) Rising inequalities. Correct. Capitalism gives rise to two basic classes: capitalists, who own the means of production, and workers, who sell their labour to them. Since profit comes from surplus value, the gains of production go to the owners. Critics also point to the negative social effects of commodification, such as the poor selling their kidneys to rich patients.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System … Under the capitalist mode of production, labour itself becomes a commodity, because workers must sell their labour power in the market to earn a wage. This gives rise to two basic classes – capitalists, who own the means of production (such as the factories), and workers, who sell their labour to the capitalists. The capitalist class is able to profit from this system by paying the workers less than the value of what they actually produce, and so extracting surplus value from their labour.…” “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System … According to Marx and other critics of capitalism, the process of commodification has negative social effects.…” |