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Economic Globalisation > Lecture 8 - Theorising the Commodity > Flashcards

Lecture 8 - Theorising the Commodity Flashcards

1
Q

What is a commodity associated with

A

Income and revenue, beholding advantages or benefits derived from the possession or use of (landed) property

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2
Q

Oxford English Dictionary definition of a commodity

A

A ‘commodity’ is [essentially] defined as a material thing, that is produced for the market for sale, in which its consumption (i.e. having proprietorial claims to it) bring with it use.

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3
Q

What do black market commodities show us

A

How the state intervenes to define what is allowed, and what is illicit. In doing so, it defines what ‘needs’ should not be met; and creates with it underground markets. (eg. Drug, animal poaching, fraud legislation etc.) (see Hastings (2014) for example).

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4
Q

What an we argue the market is a product of

A

Value judgement

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5
Q

What do commodities reflect

A

The needs and wants of society

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6
Q

Different societies have …

A

Different economies

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7
Q

What is capitalism

A

Private ownership + drive for profit

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8
Q

What is socialism

A

Government owned

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9
Q

What is ‘economy’ defined as

A

A relationship between production and consumption

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10
Q

Capitalist economies

A

Even different capitalist nations organize their economies differently, which can be explored through the ‘varieties of capitalism’ literature (see Hall and Soskice, 2001).

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11
Q

What does a subsistence economy suggest

A

Production is for use as opposed to exchange

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12
Q

What does a subsistence economy avoid

A

Avoids commodification, because of the direct consumption that bypasses the market

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13
Q

What happens in a barter economy

A

The market is cashless. Instead, swapping is used, bartering for the exchange.

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14
Q

What does a barter economy question

A

Value and availability

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15
Q

Instead of bartering, in a market economy how are out needs met

A

Through the marketplace

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16
Q

What is a market economy a model of

A

Capital facilitated ‘social inter-dependence’ (Watts, 2009, p.101)

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17
Q

What is the basic economical cell of capitalism

A

Commodities are the building blocks (Karl Marx)

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18
Q

What are the 2 values of commodities

A
  • Use value

- Exchange value

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19
Q

What is the use value of a commodity

A

The uses we have for a particular thing (qualitative)

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20
Q

What is the exchange value of a commodity

A

The market price (quantitative)

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21
Q

What happens if a commodity is useless (has no use value)

A

The labour contained within it/used to make it does not create a value that can be exchanged, because no one wants it. – the value cannot be materialised within the marketplace. Simply put, you have to be able to sell it.

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22
Q

Example of use values

A

E.g. t-shirt - keeps you warm, looks good

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23
Q

What is included in exchange value

A

Labour and time

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24
Q

How do consumers view commodity value

A

Don’t view it to be as complex as it is - we realise some relationships between labour and time are exploitative but not exactly

25
Q

What is it called when consumers value products without knowing it all

A

‘Phantom objectivity’ (Watts, 2009)

26
Q

What did Marx come up with the idea of

A

‘Commodity fetishism’

27
Q

Who came up with the idea of ‘commodity fetishism’

A

Marx

28
Q

What is ‘commodity fetishism’

A

The idea that the labour behind a product is obscured by a ‘veil of production’

29
Q

Water Benjamin quote

A

‘The meaning of the commodity is indeed; Price; as a commodity it has no other.’

30
Q

Who quotes: ‘The meaning of the commodity is indeed; Price; as a commodity it has no other.’

A

Benjamin (1991)

31
Q

What do companies do if they want to realise the most exchange value

A

They need to operate and realise the commodities most ‘competitive’ assemblage of social relations.

32
Q

How have technological advances helped

A

-Greater international connectivity
-Eased ability of capital to flow from one jurisdiction to another
-Eased and improved international
transport links

33
Q

What has technology made easier

A

International trade

34
Q

How does technology help find better environments for companies

A

Companies are now better able to search for more ideal environments that provide better ‘opportunity costs’

35
Q

What do companies need to exploit to become more profitable

A

Time and labour

36
Q

Features of labour to make it more profitable

A

Minimum wages
Cheaper governance compliances (ie. lower regulations)
Lower tax regimes
No/Low trade union representation

37
Q

What is the ‘commodity chain’ a description of

A

Attempts to explain the interlinkage between products and production and consumption

38
Q

What are the 3 commodity chains

A
  • Global Commodity Chains
  • Commodity Circuits
  • Commodity Networks
39
Q

What idea is commodity chains based on

A

‘Fillere’ (Monfort and Dutality, 1983)

40
Q

What does the global commodity chains (GCC) aim to capture

A

A relationality between ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ – ideas that had critical agency when it emerged.

41
Q

What is the core of the GCC

A

The core is considered the ‘old’ sites of production (MEDC’s) and the ‘new’ sites of production are in the periphery. Under this GCC model, the core largely consumes, and the periphery largely produces (Leslie and Reimer, 1999).

42
Q

What is often transferred to the periphery in a GCC

A

The downward pressures of price, labour and time

43
Q

What happens within a ‘buyer-driven’ supply chain

A

In this, the buyer (i.e. the business from the ‘core’) sets specifications of product. The competitive tender process then gets
manufacturers to ‘bid’ prices. They will then
make and ship the commodities to their ‘buyer’, who will then brand, retail and market their product as profit. (Gereffi, 1994)

44
Q

Does everyone agree with the GCC approach

A

No

45
Q

Why can the GCC approach be criticised

A
  • Reductional
  • Outdated (core + periphery)
  • Focusses too much on the adverse affects
  • Focuses on production and not consumption
46
Q

Alternative to GCC

A

Value chain analysis (VCA)

47
Q

What is VCA focussed on

A

The production of ‘value’ or specifically surplus value (approx. the value of exchange value minus production costs)

48
Q

What does the VCA promise justification for

A

‘Upgrading’ production

49
Q

What are commodity circuits similar to

A

Commodity Chains, in that they seek to represent this ‘value in motion’ - the commodity’s movement

50
Q

Where do commodity circuits (CC) come from

A

The ‘commodity cultures’ literatures

51
Q

How is a commodity circuit different to a commodity chain

A

The representation is non-linear (ie. there is no start point, or end point), and focus is afforded to the cultural relationships that intertwine themselves with the commodity.

52
Q

Are commodity circuits limiting

A

No, there is not ONE reality of production, consumption, distribution etc. There are many lived experiences of it.

53
Q

What do commodity circuits reveal

A

There are many multi-layered meanings and explanations that underpin commodity production.

54
Q

Foundational aspects of CC’s (Adapted from Watts, 2009)

A

-Different actors are linked together in complex ways, often through social and cultural relations
-Commodities are differentiated
in many different ways
-We can understand that different phrases of Commodity Circuit may have different values that drive and define the commodity- for example, freshness in food production.

55
Q

Alternative to commodity circles

A

Commodity networks (CN)

56
Q

How are commodity networks different to GCC, VCA and CC approaches

A

It does not agree with the primacy of the relationship between production and consumption

57
Q

What does ANT stand for

A

Actor Network Theory

58
Q

What is ANT

A

Broadly used within the social sciences as a method of flattening assumed hierarchical and causal relationships. (See Bruno Latour). - you cant separate any of the methods

59
Q

Politically why are CN interesting

A
  • Includes non-human and human actors and things
  • CN’s depict the commodity as very delicate
  • Multiple flows of interest, which are constantly in flux and unstable.

Economic Globalisation (10 decks)

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