Decommodification
Template:Short description Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Sidebar/configuration' not found. In political economy, decommodification is the strength of social entitlements and citizens' degree of immunization from market dependency.[1][2]
In regards to the labor force, decommodification describes a "degree to which individuals, or families, can uphold a socially acceptable standard of living independently of market participation."[3][4]
While commodification is the transformation of goods, services, ideas and people into commodities or objects of trade, decommodification would be the "extent that workers can leave the labor market through choice."[5]
Contemporary research
Gender inequality
The idea of decommodification as an egalitarian concept as set forth by Esping Andersen sparked contemporary research efforts focusing on perceived inequities. In 2008, a research journal pointed out a feminist critique that "the absolute focus on the welfare of individuals who are already working" leaves a central bias in the pursuit of decommodification.[6] Rather, the objective of women is often to be commodified in the first place so that they can enter the labor market.[7]
Environmental impact
Decommodification has been identified by ecological economists as a strategy for sustainable consumption that acts one level up on the institutional context of consumption in Western societies as compared to strategies such as eco-efficiency and eco-sufficiency.[8] Thus, while the eco-efficiency strategy targets the product and the eco-sufficiency strategy targets the person (the consumer as decision-maker), the decommodification strategy targets the institutional context in which consumption takes place. It aims to decrease the influence of commodities and to limit the effect of commercialization.
Social democracy paradox
Esping-Andersen's fundamental study of decommodification sparked contemporary academic research efforts hoping to resolve "paradoxes" in this application.[9][6] Exiting the labor market with little or no loss of income clashed with the idea that social democracy has the goal of high labor force participation. Research efforts to resolve this paradox showed that "employment impeding policies" came out of Christian democracy institutions, not social democracy institutions. This research suggests that decommodification in the social democratic model is viable.[6]
Example
Scandinavian countries are the closest to decommodification according to the scale created by Esping Andersen's research which places Sweden as the most decommodified country in the 1980s.[9] Sweden's level of pensions, sickness entitlements and unemployment insurance are the highest among many other leading industrial countries.[10] Sweden's social welfare programs are mandated by the government which also offers a de facto guarantee to the wages of citizens rather than taking averages and creating regulations through a means-based test on citizens' wages, level of education and their past history with the law.[11]
Notes
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Janoski, Alford (2003). The Handbook of Political Sociology: States, Civil Societies, and Globalization (1st ed.). Cambridge. p. 511.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gerber, Jean-David; Gerber, Julien-François (2017). "Decommodification as a foundation for ecological economics" (PDF). Ecological Economics. 131: 551–556. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.08.030.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1991). "The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism". Social Forces. 70 (2).
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jacques, Olivier; Noël, Alain (2022). "Welfare state decommodification and population health". PLOS ONE. 17 (8) e0272698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0272698. PMC 9432727. PMID 36044426.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Saunders, Peter (2017). Welfare to Work in Practice: Social Security and Participation in Economic and Social Life. Taylor and Francis. p. 107.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ho, JingJing (2008). "Decommodification and activation in social democratic policy: resolving the paradox". Journal of European Social Policy. 18 (1): 5–20. doi:10.1177/0958928707084449. S2CID 154504960.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Orloff, A.S (2004). "Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: the Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and the Welfare State". American Sociological Review. 58 (3): 303. doi:10.2307/2095903. JSTOR 2095903. S2CID 53453651.
- ^ Boulanger, P.M. (2010) "Three strategies for sustainable consumption". S.A.P.I.EN.S. 3 (2)
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1990). Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09457-8.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (2014-09-23). "Sveriges regering". Regeringskansliet (in svenska). Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Minimum Income Schemes". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
