Economic Commodification Research Articles

Economic Mitigation Institutions: A New Approach to Livelihood Systems in Disaster-Prone Areas

Research on livelihood systems tends to focus on livelihood assets, the transformation of structures, processes, and livelihood outcomes. During disasters, livelihood systems are disrupted, and various socio-economic issues may arise if not properly addressed. This research provides a perspective on social-economic mitigation institutions in the context of community livelihood systems in disaster-prone areas. The research advocates the need for economic mitigation institutions in vulnerable communities in disaster-prone regions. The framework of these economic mitigation institutions emphasizes economic commodification schemes. This research examines the institutional dynamics communities implement in economic mitigation as part of their livelihood systems in disaster-prone regions. This research adopts a qualitative constructivist approach to construct a new conceptual framework for disaster mitigation. Data is collected through in-depth interviews and focused group discussions (FGDs). The findings show that various insights provide potential solutions for disaster-prone livelihood systems based on theoretical analysis and empirical findings from disaster-prone areas in Indonesia. Economic mitigation institutions are crucial for vulnerable communities and essential for sustainable development. Moreover, communities residing in disaster-prone areas naturally develop survival strategies by utilizing available resources.

Private healthcare and economic commodification of health are creating equity and inclusivity issues for healthcare systems in India

Private healthcare and economic commodification of health are creating equity and inclusivity issues for healthcare systems in India

Distinction of Sacredness and Economic Commodification in Bau Nyale Tradition in Lombok Society

Bau Nyale is a Lombok Sasak tradition associated with Princess Mandalika's sacred and mythological qualities. Every year, this ritual is carried out as a manner of thanking Allah and honoring Princess Mandalika's sacrifice in preserving West Nusa Tenggara's integrity. This study aims to explain the distinction between sacredness and economic commodification in the Bau Nyale tradition. The research method used is qualitative, with a sociological approach to religion. The main informants in this study were forty people from elements of the Chief of Tribal Council, Tourism Operators, Religious Leaders, Village Youth, Village Apparatus, Economic Actors/ Traders, Participants/ Community who joined Bau Nyale, who were selected by purposive sampling technique. The research procedure was carried out in stages: data collection, reduction, presentation, and analysis. This study shows that the distinction between sacredness and economic commodification in the Bau Nyale tradition is seen in the socio-religious and cosmological form of the Sasak people of Lombok, which has an interpretation value between the society and tourism managers. Bau Nyale is a symbol of the success of the feast and a form of gratitude to God for the abundance of grace and gifts to the harvest, both in the agricultural and marine fields. The mythology of Princess Mandalika as a figure of wisdom represents the dignity and worth of the female figure of the Sasak people of Lombok. In addition, the Bau Nyale tradition has a tourism value that should be promoted to be known in foreign countries, aimed at boosting the economy of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

The Transition of Art Production: From Ritual Representation to Economical Commodification to Technological Expression

History reveals how the production and function of art have been progressively changed. This paper will investigate the emancipation of a work of art derived from historical accounts that are grounded in Marx and Engels’ theory of communism concerning the abolition of private property. This inquiry encompassed three phases: In the first phase, nature rules over man; in the second, private property develops and nature is reduced to a simple object for man; and in the third phase, man revolutionizes and eliminates everything. This study will tackle the historical development of art, including 1) on ritual activity, 2) on commodification and exploitation, and 3) on revolution and distribution, to describe the present condition of art. Finally, surpassing modernity and moving into a new condition, the work of art arrives at its final point of departure—maturity. Upon entering the information age, the attitudes of art emancipate from ritual representations to economic commodification into technological expression. Nevertheless, the emancipation of the fine arts into mass art is expected to take place.

The Transformation of Noken Papua: Understanding the Dynamics of Noken’s Commodification as the Impact of UNESCO’s Heritage Recognition

This research was motivated by previous studies that discussed Noken from various points of view but did not examine aspects of the commodification of Noken as an implication of the world heritage label from UNESCO. Noken is a native Papuan knit bag that has high cultural values, sacred entity, and a source of life; as a container for carrying garden products and animal hunting products. Noken is also a form of maturity initiation, Papuan woman who can knit noken may enter the marriage phase. Applying the qualitative method, with observations and interviews with women knitting and selling it in Jayapura as informants, this study found that: firstly, Noken had undergone massive economic commodification, started with UNESCO's recognition of inherited noken as intangible, which led to more and more traded noken. Secondly, noken has transformed values, especially about the noken value that animates them. The transformation of values in noken is a necessity in the dynamics of the social, economic, and cultural changes of the Papuan. Thirdly, by knitting and selling it, they are trying to preserve the sacred value of noken, also as a strategy to survive economically in encountering the impact of the capitalist system.

Effect of Revitalisation of Historic Buildings on Retail Shop Values in Urban Renewal: An Empirical Analysis

There often exists a tension between heritage conservation and urban redevelopment. However, heritage places are progressively operated as consumption spots and economic commodification, based on scholarly argument, is a major reason for the existence of a heritage resource. In this study, it is argued that revitalisation of historic edifices in districts undergoing urban renewal enhances the values of nearby commercial properties. This study employed a Hedonic Price Model (HPM) to investigate the existence of any relationship between revitalisation of historic building developments and the value enhancement of nearby retail properties located at the ground floor in the old area of Wanchai in Hong Kong. The model used 2961 real estate transactions obtained from buildings in the neighbourhood of three revitalised historical projects in the studied area, where a number of revitalisation projects have been completed. The results show that the revitalised historical projects have generated considerable value enhancements to the retail shopping properties in the vicinity. The results also revealed that the revitalised historical sites exert a greater impact on the retail property prices than do the newly developed nearby residential projects. The findings indicate that through the value enhancement of neighbourhood properties, the revitalisation of historical sites benefit not only the surrounding property owners but also local governments in the vicinity. The finding therefore supports the arguments utilized to advocate urban revitalisation and the idea that heritage resources exist purposely for economic commodification. Moreover, three case studies of the revitalisation of Chinese tenement buildings also provide a qualitative analysis of their social and economic impacts on the community.

Migration, Ethnicity and Privilege

Representation assumes that those who govern have knowledge of those for whom they govern. It is easy to presume knowledge of the “other”, but as we know this can be based in prejudice, cultural difference, or simply misinformation or simplification. Usually our explorations of this process have focused on populations identified as disadvantaged, disempowered or somehow “non-privileged”. However, the research process outlined here has revealed previously unexplored diversity within a population commonly described as privileged suggesting that good governance requires alertness to presuming to know both the unprivileged and the privileged. The research approach outlined in this paper has used a blend of historical reappraisal and qualitative techniques focusing on a population who have been conceptualized as doubly privileged. This population focus is that of older British; post World War II male migrants in South Australia. These people have been conceptualized as privileged because they are male, and they were part of the preferred ethnic group that Australian politicians and policy makers favoured post WW2. However, review of the historical data and qualitative interviews with some of these men show that the accepted narrative of a homogenous pre-WW2 British origin population is over simplistic. The historical research suggests that the presumption that post WW2 British migrant men were coming into an homogenous, privileging environment in migrating to SA is both ahistorical and crude. Furthermore the belief that post WW2 British migrant men were ethnically homogenous is undermined by the qualitative research, that reveals that their presumed homogeneity is much more fluid and nuanced than dominant conceptualisations have allowed. The impact of core ethnicities that continue to exist and compete in Britain, the social class focus and economic commodification of migrants in the machinations of powerful players in the state of South Australia all confound homogenizing, simplistic knowing of British migrant men in this state. Generically these findings caution social researchers with regard to presuming to know so called “privileged” populations as well as presumed non-privileged groups.

A Levinasian ethics critique of the role of management and control systems by large global corporations: The General Electric/Nuovo Pignone example

This essay extends [Shearer, 2002] Levinasian critique of the role of financial accounting with its neo-classical underpinnings in today's global market capitalism. It expands on Levinas's ethics-of-being-for-the-other by emphasizing how he developed his radical ethics by drawing on the ancient Jewish texts, an ethics that gives place of privilege to ontology rather than epistemology in contrast to much conventional Western philosophy. The essay illustrates the potential of his ethics for mounting a critique of the use of management and control systems by global corporations. It provides General Electric's takeover of the Italian company Nouvo Pignone as an instance. The systems are an essential element in the expansionary strategies of these massive enterprises that have come to dominate the world. The essay concludes that GE's instantiation of its generic management and control systems into the firms it acquires runs afoul of a Levinasian ethics. That many large global corporations employ similar systems and tactics highlights the urgent need for a broader accountability on the part of such organizations than economic efficiency and producing profits to report to capital markets. Levinas's ethics, thusly, presents a space of entry to expose and confront the economic commodification of employees scattered across the world.

Human Tissue and Global Ethics

One important sense of 'global ethics' concerns the applied ethical issues arising in the context of economic globalisation. This article contends that we are beginning to witness the economic commodification and, concomitantly, the globalisation, of human tissue and the human genome. Policy-makers and local research ethics committees need to be aware that the relevant ethical questions are no longer confined to their old national or subnational context. A shift from questions of personal autonomy and identity can therefore be expected-towards the more problematic issues of justice, exploitation and distribution. Here we can learn from the distinctions drawn in legal philosophy, such as the notion of property as a 'bundle' of rights, from which we may choose rights favouring the interests of vulnerable populations. We may also wish to apply the distinctions drawn by Calabresi and Melamed between pure property rules, modified alienability rules, and pure non-property regimes. Global ethics also concerns issues of value disparity across cultures, directing our attention to the moral beliefs of indigenous peoples, for example, whose DNA or tissue is increasingly of commercial importance. In examining case examples from Tonga and Aotearoa/New Zealand, I will consider the impact of indigenous belief systems and of neo-colonialism on indigenous peoples' perceptions of Western researchers. It is clear that many indigenous peoples reject both the pure property system and any modifications, insisting on a pure non-property regime. How can they then be protected in a globalised market system that so far favours the opposite end of the spectrum?