Karl Marx
by Tugrul Keskin
Marx wrote that commodities used in earlier times had only what he described as ‘use value,’ but following the historical process of capitalism, commodities have exchange value. Marx points out that an immense accumulation of commodities is the central characteristic and unit of the capitalist mode of production. “A commodity is, in the first place, an object outside us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort of another”. According to Marx, we can look at every useful thing from one of two points of view; according to quantity, or quality. In his analysis, commodities or the products of labor are intended for both use and exchange. Some scholars believe that Marx’s understanding of the commodity is based upon his materialist perspective.
Use-Value
‘The utility of a thing makes it a use value.” The utility can’t be separated from the commodity, and without the commodity the utility does not have value. Marx asserts that the commodity does have value, because of its usefulness. In the case of the use-value of the commodity, quantity is the key factor to determine use-value, such as a dozen flowers, or a half-pound of oranges. “Use- values become a reality only by use or consumption.” Without use or consumption of a commodity, the use value does not have an actual value in the capitalist system. Objects are the product of the human labor; therefore they do not have independent existence without the human actor and are controlled by the actors.
Exchange-Value
In Marx’s view, the exchange value of a commodity is the second viewpoint of the capitalist mode of production, and in this context, quantity is the main determinant of the value. The exchange value is also purely relative. According to Ritzer, Marx views the exchange value in terms of the way that “instead of being used immediately, they are exchanged the open market for money which is used ultimately to acquire other use values.”
According to some social theorists, in today’s world, we commodify everything from information to the newspaper, labor to the car. This is the nature of the modern capitalist system. Today, given the commodification of objects, things or utilities are all part of the global capitalist system. We produce them and have control over these commodities.
