Commodify

Commodify is a verb meaning to transform something into a commodity—a good or service produced for sale in a market. To commodify something is to assign it a price and to render it exchangeable under market conditions. The term is used across economics, sociology, cultural studies, and policy debates to describe processes in which practices, relationships, or resources are treated as marketable assets rather than as non-market goods.

Etymology: The word is formed from the noun commodity, which derives from Latin commoditas “convenience, advantage” and French commodité, with the English verb suffix -fy indicating a process. The act of commodifying thus involves converting or organizing something for trade, allocation by price, or monetization.

Contexts and examples: In economics and policy, commodification refers to bringing more goods or services under market exchange, such as privatizing water, healthcare, or education. In culture and sociology, it describes the transformation of cultural products, social relations, or natural entities into marketable assets—music, art, body labor, or nature (forests, ecosystems, or climate) valued as tradable credits or commodities. In the digital age, data commodification and attention economies frame user information and time as marketable resources.

Debates: Proponents argue commodification can improve efficiency, resource allocation, and innovation, while critics warn it can erode intrinsic value, increase inequality, and undermine public goods or social bonds by treating essential services or relationships as mere market transactions.

See also: monetization, marketization, commoditization, privatization.