The Critique of Commodification

Contours of a Post-Capitalist Society

Christoph Hermann author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc

Published:29th Sep '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Critique of Commodification cover

In recent years activists around the globe have challenged the commodification of water, education, health care, and other essential goods, while academics have warned from unintended effects when everything can be bought and sold. But what is commodification? And what is the problem with commodification? In The Critique of Commodification, Christoph Hermann argues that commodification entails production for profit rather than social needs, and that production for profit has a number of harmful effects, including the exclusion of those who cannot pay, the marginalization of those whose collective purchasing power is not large enough, and the focus on highly profitable forms of production over more socially beneficial and ecologically sustainable alternatives. Drawing upon and extending the work of Marx, Polyani, and Luxemburg, Hermann goes beyond the standard moral critiques of markets and adopts a materialist approach to emphasize the dispossession of public resources and to highlight how goods and services are altered when sold on markets for profit. Tracing the intellectual history of the term commodification, this book not only criticizes commodification, but also proposes a new model for production that focuses on needs rather than profits.

... an important and thought-provoking contribution, one that deserves to be widely read, and it certainly provides the basis for further work in an area that is of the utmost importance. * John McCay, Honorary Professor in Development Studies at Deakin University, Marx and Philosophy Review of Books *

ISBN: 9780197576762

Dimensions: 236mm x 159mm x 16mm

Weight: 358g

236 pages