Commodity Lecture Week 4

Commodity

An external object, a thing which through its qualities satisfies human needs of whatever kind.

Fetishism

The belief that powers can inhere in inanimate things.

Use value

The material uses to which the object can actually be put, the human needs it fulfills.

Exchange value

The exchange equivalent by which the commodity is compared to other objects on the market.

Commodity Fetishism

Refers to the power that goods and objects hold once they become commodities, hiding the origins of private labor and placing value on the final product.

Consumer Culture

The way commodities shape the way people express themselves and identify with each other.

Social Relationships in Production

Economic relationships of production and exchange seen as social relationships between things, rather than between people.

Advertising and Commodities

Narratives created around commodities used to create a brand, sell a lifestyle, and emphasize identity.

Labor/Production

The process where objects become commodities through human labor, producing a social relationship between objects outside of the producers.

Cultural Production

Considers whether artistic expressions such as music and art can be seen as forms of commodity fetishism.