The process by which something which was not a commodity is made a commodity and becomes part of the market economy is known as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Commodification
Option (1) Commercialisation — Incorrect. Commercialisation means producing mainly for sale in the market, as when agriculture becomes commercialised and crops are grown primarily for sale. The crop was already a commodity; nothing new is turned into one.
Option (2) Commodification — Correct. 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; the sale of kidneys by the poor is another, much-debated example.
Option (3) Globalisation — Incorrect. Globalisation refers to the growing interdependence between different people, regions and countries as social and economic relationships stretch world-wide. It is about links across the world, not about making a new thing saleable.
Option (4) Marketisation — Incorrect. Marketisation is the use of markets or market-based processes, rather than government regulations or policies, to solve social, political or economic problems — for example deregulation and privatisation. It is a policy, not the turning of a thing into a commodity.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System … 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.…” |