One of the founders of modern sociology, Karl Marx, was also a critic of modern capitalism. Marx understood capitalism as a system of commodity production, or production for the market, through wage labour. As you have already learned, Marx wrote that all economic systems are also social systems. Each mode of production consists of particular relations of production, which in turn give rise to a specific class structure

Which commodity becomes central in Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism?

Human labour

The correct answer is Option 1: Human labour.

Karl Marx argued that human labour is the central commodity in capitalism. Under capitalism, workers do not sell the products they make; instead, they sell their labour power for wages. This makes human labour the key commodity in Marx's analysis of capitalism.

Option 4: Capital. – Incorrect. Although capital is essential to the capitalist system, Marx emphasized that it is human labour (or labour power) that becomes the distinctive commodity bought and sold in the capitalist market.

NCERT: 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.