Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Sociology

Chapter

Indian Society: Market as a social Institution

Question:

The process by which something which was not a commodity is made a commodity and becomes part of the market economy is known as:

Options:

Commercialisation

Commodification

Globalisation

Marketisation

Correct Answer:

Commodification

Explanation:

Commodification occurs when things that were earlier not traded in the market become commodities. For instance, labour or skills become things that can be bought and sold. According to Marx and other critics of capitalism, the process of commodification has negative social effects. The commodification of labour is one example, but there are many other examples in contemporary society. For instance, there is a controversy about the sale of kidneys by the poor to cater to rich patients who need kidney transplants. According to many people, human organs should not become commodities. In earlier times, human beings themselves were bought and sold as slaves, but today it is considered immoral to treat people as commodities. But in modern society, almost everyone accepts the idea that a person’s labour can be bought, or that other services or skills can be provided in exchange for money. This is a situation that is found only in capitalist societies, according to Marx.