The Market as a Social Institution
Class 12 Sociology · Indian Society · Chapter 4
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Summary
The everyday word 'market' refers to a place, a gathering of buyers and sellers, or an area of trade; in a broad sense 'the market' is almost equivalent to the economy. While economics studies how markets set prices and allocate resources, sociology shows that the market is also a social institution, comparable to caste, tribe and family, and that economies are socially 'embedded'. This is illustrated by the weekly tribal haat — a periodic market that is as much a social occasion as an economic one, transformed under colonialism as outsiders, traders and moneylenders entered tribal economies. Caste-based trading networks (such as the Nakarattars and the Marwaris) show how kinship and community trust organise business and banking. Colonialism reoriented India from a manufacturer to a supplier of raw materials, creating new markets and new business communities. Drawing on Karl Marx, the chapter explains capitalism as a system of commodity production using wage labour, generating two classes — capitalists and workers. Commodification turns things once outside the market (labour, organs, education, even drinking water) into commodities, and consumption becomes a marker of status (Max Weber's 'status symbol'). Finally, globalisation and the liberalisation of the Indian economy since the late 1980s have interlinked local, national and global markets, bringing both new opportunities and serious costs through privatisation, reduced subsidies and competition.
Key terms
Market
A social institution of exchange — a place, gathering or sphere of trade embedded in social relations.
Embeddedness
The idea that economic activity is shaped by social institutions and relationships.
Commodification
The process by which something not previously traded becomes a commodity bought and sold.
Status symbol
Max Weber's term for goods that signal a person's social standing.
Liberalisation
Policies opening up an economy through privatisation, deregulation and reduced tariffs.
Globalisation
The growing interconnection of local, regional, national and international markets.
Extra questions & answers
Try one from this chapter
A central sociological insight about the market is that it is: