GGR221H1 Lecture Notes - Commodity Fetishism, Communization, Human Geography
22 Jun 2013
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Document Summary
Communization standardizes a heterogeneous set of goods and processes. Commodification hides the labour and social retaliations that created the product. Disconnect between consumers and producers selective knowledge about commodity chains. Actual or perceived place of origin affects it"s consumption. Producers will try to control knowledge about commodity to increase sakes. But other actor can reveal contrary knowledge about commodity chains to influence consumption. Different types of relations give different actors power within a chain. By looking at coordination and power, we can understand governance. Consumers may buy/stop buying a product based on their knowledge about it"s commodity chain. Consumer power activated by breaking down the disconnected social relations in a commodity chain. Different actors (colorations, ngos, workers) try to reveal knowledge about the commodity chain t influence consumers. Commodity chains are both an organizational feature and an idea in people"s minds. Don"t just look at the structure of a commodity chain, think a out why it is structured that way.
