# Commodification
**Domain:** Political Economy / Sociology
**Doc Type:** Concept Node
**Classification:** Infrastructure Concept
**Maturity:** Foundational
**Related:** [[Marketization]], [[Commercialization]], [[Value Theory]], [[Market Expansion]], [[Non-Market Values]], [[Enclosure]]
---
## Definition
**Commodification** refers to **the process through which goods, services, relationships, or previously non-market domains are converted into commodities—objects with monetary price subject to market exchange—making them available for purchase and sale while subjecting them to market logic and profit incentives**. Commodification extends markets into previously protected spheres.
---
## General Context
Commodification is central to capitalism: labor, land, knowledge, and nature become tradeable commodities. The process has expanded dramatically: emotional labor, genetic material, water, and carbon are now commodified. Commodification enables efficient allocation through markets but can undermine non-market values (care, community, ecological interdependence). Feminist and ecological critics argue that commodification instrumentalizes domains that are not appropriately market-mediated and concentrates control among those with capital.
---
## Climate Meritocracy Context
Climate adaptation under meritocratic logic commodifies survival—converting access to water, relocation, and life extension into priced resources allocated through markets or algorithmic pricing.
---
## Key Insight
Commodification represents **the extension of market logic beyond economic goods into domains where monetary exchange is a poor proxy for value**—risking the replacement of care, ecology, and community with price mechanisms.
---
## See Also
[[Commercial Reuse]], [[Climate Finance]], [[Climate Justice]], [[Commercial Cloud Platforms]], [[Bargaining Solutions]]