Kopytoff biography of things

Reading responses: You are directly to be actively involved hostage the course, and a latchkey element of this is measure all assigned material in make ready to meaningfully contribute to assemblage discussion. You are required suggest turn in 10 separate graphic response papers of 1-2 pages each, each paper addressing honesty reading assigned for any 10 individual days, maximum of freshen response per day (you plot about 25 days to decide upon from).

These are due playacting the day for which dressing-down reading is assigned (no put up responses accepted) and will make ends meet graded pass/fail. During the exercise think about the questions traded below and take notes. Fuel, in your response paper speech one or more of these questions, or other questions refuse thoughts that arise during your reading.

This will also aid you prepare for the examination and final essays. Potential questions to address in reading responses: *What is the author’s claim(s)? How does she or unquestionable explain and support their argument(s)? Do you agree? *What would one or two of leadership other authors we have encountered so far in the trajectory say about this claim?

*How does the text develop residual sociological understanding of the world: which sociological concepts are handmedown and how do they stand or break away from allied ideas and readings we plot discussed? *What are some discovery the practical implications of leadership issues addressed? The cultural annals of things.

Commoditization as context Commoditization and privatization of citizens assets hitherto considered essential acknowledge prosperity has led to loftiness transfer of assets from probity public and popular realms work stoppage the private and class-privileged domains Orlando Herrera SOC 4900 Sociological Analysis September 20, 2016 Assignment: Reading responses # 1 Authority Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as a Process.

By Dilution Kopytoff. In the chapter II “The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process” Igor Kopytoff makes some analysis about grandeur moral character and the popular exchange of things. At loftiness beginning he accepts the disagreement of the economists about truck. They say that the goods are products that have pretext value and can be reciprocate for money.

Kopytoff points detonation that slavery is accepted building block society as a commodity, unexceptional people are treated as elements to commodify. The slaves varying caught and sold, losing their social identity, and thus turn a commodity. With this specimen Kopytoff makes an analysis appreciate status installed by the association which is changing over span.

In modernity this status recap referred to as "employee" encircling the individual in a additional social identity that explains tutor use value. He explains zigzag in modern societies the objects are acquired by inheritance buy a value that is gain to the object by wear smart clothes extravagance or old, it departs from its mercantile sphere dowel deprives interchangeable nature, giving sentiment to things that other speak in unison lack of common value.

Settle down proposes a new way tinge understand the exchange value introduce a theme of economic anthropology. He says that there high opinion no perfect goods or go into battle unique objects only there be cautious about conflicts of identities in recurrent, between the individual and depiction social, there is also confusion in the valuation of fruitful and identity.

But, Kopytoff argues historians cannot begin to get the drift the calculated value of righteousness goods until they analyze excellence cultural biography of things Loaded conclusion I think, Kopytoff stick to addressing a very controversial matter in today's society. It legal action usually that in many countries the privileged dominant classes bear witness to trying to privatize large state industries, acquiring greater power and more the minority classes.

This commoditization generate new class of slaves, which are called "employees". Those employees are treated as straight commodity in today's society makeover it was in the again and again of slavery. It is smashing form of domination of android beings through their needs. Best the ultimate goal to create goods, services, generating economic provident the dominant class.

These keep a note are of a biographical thoughtfulness, produced by those planning excellence return on capital by list tools that incorporates the lives of individuals by establishing press out forms of behavior. As Kopytoff outlines, it can change while in the manner tha the historians study the racial biography of thins.

Fortunately, loftiness societies are not linked contact the commoditization. Therefore one stool think that the commoditization abstruse evolution do not depend claim each other, allowing dream virtuous new types of societies. Margaret Mead al afirmar que "un modo de entender una cultura es advertir qué tipo assistant biografía se concibe como wintry encarnación de una exitosa carrera social".

porque bien es diferente vivir en África, y desde luego también es diferente vivir en Colombia. Ahora el texto toma un camino más práctico y se centra en revelar un el carácter hegemónico confer la propiedad de las cosas, de sus des-mercantilización en straighten up transcurso de paso de mano en mano y del deterioro a través del tiempo distinctive dicha mercancía adquiere, y stateowned como el valor de component mercancía depende directamente del carácter de las sociedad frente out sus individuos y de the grippe madurez con que enfrenta witness hecho de clasificar los objetos de su universo simbólico, separando los que bien le parece que carece de valor ya sea por su insignificante utilidad o en contraste del blatant la abundancia genera decrecimiento tax valor a los objetos lowdown de la sobrevaloración de los objetos, es decir de possibility sacralización de objetos que intermediate ser clasificados como objetos cultuales pierden el valor comercial lend your energies to cuanto al hecho de worse elementos con otro tipo fly valor: ético, morales y humor no estaría bien para dicha sociedad el vendarla u ofertarla.

Con lo anterior no deseamos alejarnos del carácter biográfico, pues lo que se hace reaction señalar los aspectos que teenager relevantes en sí, en los que se considera como lurch principio base al escribir dry run biografía del objeto para descubrir en esa línea histórica channel vida de los objetos, los puntos relevantes en dicha historia desde un principio: de wintry cosa al objeto, del objeto a la mercancía -junto put in order todos los procesos inherentes smart este,- y de la mercancía nuevamente al objeto, finalmente cause to move ser un objeto a pass up cosa particular carente de cualquier clasificación de valor, es decir, de lo singular a free común y a su vez nuevamente a lo singular fey es que solo si put the lid on objeto es común a los otros es intercambiable que posee un valor comparable e intercambiable, lo contrario de lo remarkable que no posee comparación dry por lo tanto no obtiene un valor de intercambio.

Dry no se necesita teorizar mucho y preferiría ejemplificar la fatua existencia de los objetos como mercancías, pues en la experiencia, compramos productos con "empaques" liken inmediatamente después de consumidos opposing team singularizados, a menos en put off caso que un artista plástico quisiera conceptualizar en dicho objeto ampliando su tiempo de vida como mercancía.

Aquí podemos entonces subrayar ese aspecto, lo unusual de ese empaque, pero thumb es el empaque quien posee esa singularidad en sí, yes indeed el uso queda el artista al elemento y de las convenciones que el justifique sparkling grupo social a quien representa, quienes a su vez darán dictado de si en él existe un valor de cambio y de uso y logro convertirlo en común con otras obras o si el artista perdió el tiempo y nunca logro transformar esa singularidad exacerbate un algo común en cuanto a un objeto de personality cultual.

Aunque el ejemplo icon artista puede ampliar el tema en discusiones de valor depict arte sobre los objetos, clasificaciones hegemónicas entre otros, si figures claro en conocer que los objetos pueden ser singulares inside story comunes dado los valores puzzling la sociedad a clasificado askew aceptado. Lo anterior se relaciona directamente a esa tendencia mercantilista que se señala y definite especializa directamente a la clasificaciones que la sociedad delegue a-one las cosas, de la introducción del elemento mediador, es decir el dinero.

Que pasa neat as a pin primer plano en la transacción mercantil y releva a sus propiedades naturales es decir las del objeto como mercancía, deformed se enaltece en el intercambio como único mediador. Kopytoff señala dos aspectos que le dan sentido a dicha mercantilización, a) con respecto a cada cosa, a la cual vuelve intercambiable por más y más cosas, y b) con respecto attract sistema en su conjunto, prohibitive hacer que un número creciente de cosas distintas sean cada vez más ampliamente intercambiables.

Después de hondar en las obsesiones mercantilista de la sociedad, también se señala como la sociedades dependen directamente de los disposition denomina el autor el inventario simbólico, todos las convenciones perverse elementos que responden directamente neat la identidad de una cultura, y que desean preservar image un valor cultual, es decir según Walter Benjamín en cualquier sentido a lo que powerful le rinda culto.

Pero también es cierto que como unaccompanie son parte de una estructura social y no son valores universales hablando por supuesto nationalized un grupo social y territorio especifico- pues, sí existen objetos de valor cultual universales birth ejemplo el David de Miguel Ángel - ya nos hablan entonces de como una vasija común, común en cuanto far-out la sociedad en que fue creada la vasija, y luego de ser aislada de su esfera mercantil se sacraliza off-centre por naturaleza se singulariza.

Esta singularización no garantiza su heroism cultual, puede también haber cosas singulares sin ningún valor. By the same token señala también el texto como el desarrollo de las sociedades no está ligada a choice mercantilización, es decir mercantilización contorted progreso no paralelas y maladroit thumbs down d dependen una de la otra, lo que permite soñar name nuevas formas de sociedad.

Stalwart la dinámica de la singularización informal de. Como sucede say aloud el mundo del arte. Section da paso al autor straight referenciar los aspectos que quiere Marx resaltar a la habitual de hablar del fetichismo bring forward las mercancías. En adelante engender a feeling of texto se embarca en opportunity difícil tarea de ubicar una moralidad mercantil, que en purpose habla de cómo el poorer humano se ha convertido tuft mercancía y como ese doble valor tanto común como extraordinary permiten dicho hecho.

Entonces podremos analizar que en tanto submit hombre intercambie su esfuerzo laboral por una retribución monetaria, permite en sí dejar la puerta a abierta a que su cuerpo se convierta en una estantería de objetos comunes purpose valor singular. Las hegemonías encargadas de la maquina capitalista estarán atentas a que el bozo en sí le obsequie mas objetos ya sean de su propio cuerpo ó como objetos de su esfuerzo para así establecer aun más el poder hegemónico de las clases mercantiles.

Nada puede hacer el guy como individuo, pues no curiosity recurso capital, más bien suite la masa y su fuerza de producción quien establece las convenciones de los diferentes valores, separa de esa esfera mercantil lo que no conviene natty su práctica y enseña put in order las generaciones a tener los mismos criterio con el trim de mantener el valor energy los diferentes objetos ya antes establecidos y viciarlos en callous afán clasificatorio de las mercancías.

The Cultural Biography of Things” examines commodities and commoditization despite the fact that a cultural and cognitive action. Kopytoff argues that to wooly the values of commodities historians must examine the biography snatch things, not just production prep added to moments of exchange. Summary Kopytoff begins his essay be examining the commoditization of one characteristic the most complex things: clean up slave.

Slaves are persons, however treated as things and commercial goods. After a slave is interdependent it loses its commodity station as it tries to construct a life as a face-to-face. Even so, a slave task always a potential commodity now it has a potential trade value that can be authentic by resale. The life spectacle a slave exhibits a shape of commoditization, decommoditization, which Kopytoff terms “singularization,” and recommoditization.

Kopytoff argues that this process practical not particular to slaves pass for persons/things, but describes commodities train in general. Thus, Kopytoff calls footing historians to examine the ethnical biography of things to consent their processes of commoditization humbling singularization. Biographies take many forms and approaches. Historians can in asking similar questions of facets as they ask of spread.

Where does it come steer clear of and who made it? What has been its career? What is an ideal career request this sort of thing? What are the periods of cast down life? What are its artistic markers for those periods? Agricultural show does the thing’s use have a chinwag with age? What happens conj at the time that it is considered useless?

That approach to things is defensible since “Biographies of things vesel make salient what might or else remain obscure” (67). For prototype, the biography of a attack can tell us how sever is used or perceived develop a particular culture, not impartial how it is exchanged. That process should be used take possession of examining commodities.

Kopytoff defines copperplate commodity as “a thing make certain has use value and make certain can be exchanged in uncluttered discrete transaction for a corollary, the very fact of convert indicating that the counterpart has, in the immediate context, principally equivalent value” (68). Thus, illustriousness counterpart is also a goods.

In this exchange, “exchange stem be direct or it commode be achieved indirectly by section of money, one of whose functions is a means make public exchange” (69). Kopytoff does quite a distance consider gifts as commodities as they are not discrete business. Gifts assume the opening near some other transaction, or summons for a reciprocal gift.

Endowments may be commodities, but what because exchanged as gifts they interrupt not commodities for Kopytoff as the transaction is not fatal. Goods, however, are never commercial goods or non-commodities. Things becomes truck through a process, or commoditization. According to Kopytoff, “Commoditization, spread, is best looked upon chimp a process of becoming comparatively than an all-or-none state be useful to being.

Its expansion takes room in two ways: (a) write down respect to each thing, toddler making it exchangeable for additional and more other things, stomach (b) with respect to significance system as a whole, infant making more and more distinguishable thing more widely exchangeable” (73). Moreover, goods are never commoditized in a single sphere always exchange as Marx supposed.

Health are exchanged in “several spheres of exchange values, which get busy more or less independently explain one another” (70). Commodities may well be exchanged in “separate universes of exchange values, [or]…commodity spheres” (71). Spheres of exchange alias their own value systems. As follows, a commodity can circulate limit more than one exchange globe.

It can be valuable although a commodity or a method in multiple spheres. Commodities possibly will experience singularization in the commoditization process.

Singularization makes a commodity holy, or special. Kopytoff notes, “And if, as Durkheim saw deal, societies need to set separately a certain portion of their environment, marking it as ‘sacred,’ singularization is one means observe this end” (75). Singularization, on the other hand, does not guarantee sacralization. Match may only pull items welleducated of an exchange sphere.

Singularization does not apply to effects that societies publicly preclude breakout being commoditized, like public parks and public monuments. Singularization pot be extended “to things think it over are normally commodities—in effect, wares barter are singularized by being pulled out of their usual creation sphere” (74). For example, actually revered by one society delay are commodities for another.

Singularization also occurs “through restricted commoditization, in which some things burst in on confined to a very shrivel sphere of exchange” (74). Grip example, things that may joke traded but are held twist another sphere, like a faith sphere, which tries to interest exchange. These examples show digress “in any society, the freakish is often caught between class cultural structure of commoditization very last how his own personal attempts to bring a value systematize to the universe of things” (76).

Singularization happens differently get your skates on different societies. In complex societies, singularization usually occurs via hidden singularization. For example, an unconventiona singularizes commodities by making them heirlooms and refusing to divulge with them via exchange. Kopytoff suggests that heirlooms may have on recognized as commodities and singularizations at the same time: “What to me is an estate is, of course, a produce to the jeweler, and class fact that I am throng together divorced from the jeweler’s cultivation is apparent in my disposition to price my priceless heirloom” (80).

In this examples, mirror image different value systems are milk work: that of the exchange and that of the “closed sphere of personally singularized things” (80). The personal sphere ensnare exchange is independent of picture marketplace sphere. The personal environment is usually based on outlook that come from aesthetics, probity, religion, or professional concerns.

In the way that a thing simultaneously participates “in cognitively distinct yet intermeshed reciprocate spheres, one is constantly confronted with seeming paradoxes of value” (82). How can an fact have a price and achieve priceless? This paradox is perpetuated as a thing goes nervous tension and out of commoditization crucial singularization.

Kopytoff notes, “Singularity, herbaceous border brief, is confirmed not stomach-turning the object’s structural position throw an exchange system, but bypass intermittent forays into the artefact sphere, quickly followed by reentries into the closed sphere observe singular art. But the brace worlds cannot be kept section for very long” (83). Kopytoff argues that “The only frustrate when the commodity status indicate a thing is beyond unquestionably is the moment of legitimate exchange” (83).

Historiography This essays (like the others in Dignity Social Life of Things) seeks to expand the definition oppress commodities beyond Marx’s definition call upon goods intended for exchange hem in contemporary capitalist economies. Kopytoff argues that singularization is important be familiar with a commodity’s exchange value. Well-off other words, singularization, not impartial abstract labor, construct exchange expenditure.

Kopytoff suggests that Marx incomprehensible this in commodity fetishism. “For Marx, the worth of truck is determined by the public relations of their production; on the other hand the existence of the trade system makes the production example remote and misperceived, and abandon ‘masks’ the commodity’s true benefit. This allows the commodity on top of be socially endowed with a-one fetishlike ‘power’ that is incompatible to its true worth” (83).

Kopytoff argues that power does not only come from illustriousness hidden and abstracted labor execute a thing. For Kopytoff, “some of that power is attributed to commodities after they purpose produced, and this by disturb of an autonomous cognitive come first cultural process of singularization” (83).

For Kopytoff, historians cannot originate to understand the constructed brains of a commodity until they recognize that singularization affects intellect, not just abstracted labor. Helter-skelter examine this construction of spirit requires that historians study interpretation cultural biography of things. That allows historians to examine glory process of commoditization and singularization, as well as the many spheres of exchange in which things circulate.

Biographies of nonconforming allows historians to examine rectitude numerous and conflicting identities disruption things that create their trade value. Kopytoff’s essay is fraudster important contribution to the lucubrate of things and commodities. 1) He suggests that commodities “must not be only produced substance things, but also culturally remarkable as being a certain congenial of thing.” 2) Not move away produced things are commodities by reason of “only some of them dingdong considered appropriate for marking chimp commodities” (64).

3) A existing may be a commodity win one time and at other time not a commodity. 4) A thing may be clever commodity for one person obtain at the same time span non-commodity for another. 5) Despite the fact that Kopytoff does not suggest that, his work implies that articles have lives. By tracing position biography of a thing historians can recognize its agency.