Gone are those days when marriages were arranged by families, now there are professional marriage bureaus and websites that help people to find their life partners. What concept does this example reflect?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Marketisation
Option (1) Privatisation — Incorrect. Privatisation is the selling of government-owned companies to private companies. Finding a life partner was never a government service, so nothing has passed from the state to private owners here.
Option (2) Globalisation — Incorrect. Globalisation is the growing interconnection of the world, economically, culturally and politically. A marriage bureau in an Indian town can work without any link to other countries, so the example does not turn on global links.
Option (3) Marketisation — Correct. Marketisation is the use of markets or market-based processes in place of other ways of meeting a need. Arranging a marriage was once done by families; now professional marriage bureaus and websites do it for a fee, so a family task has moved into the market.
Option (4) Individuality — Incorrect. Individuality means the qualities that make a person different from others, or acting on one’s own choices. The example is not about a person’s own choice; it is about a service that is now bought and sold.
Note 1: The NCERT book (2025-26) uses this very example to explain commodification, the process by which things that were earlier not part of market exchange become commodities. Commodification is not among the options; of the four, only marketisation, the use of market-based processes, describes a family task becoming a paid service.
Note 2: The concept in Option (4), ‘individuality’, is not in NCERT (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System … In contemporary India, we can observe that things or processes that earlier were not part of market exchange become commodified. For example, traditionally, marriages were arranged by families, but now there are professional marriage bureaus and websites that help people to find brides and grooms for a fee.…” “Debate on Liberalisation – Market Versus State … Another word for such changes is marketisation, or the use of markets or market-based processes (rather than government regulations or policies) to solve social, political, or economic problems. These include relaxation or removal of economic controls (deregulation), privatisation of industries, and removing government controls over wages and prices.…” |