Commodification and the Zulu Culture
Commodification and the Zulu Culture
Commodification is often seen as the process by which raw materials are extracted, packaged and eventually turned into a product of value that can be sold. Now days because of the growth of globalization and commodity fetishism; commodification has become the transformations of a variety of things (things that may have had no previous value) including different goods, services and ideas into something of value that may even be sold. In other words commodification is when products, services or ideas are turned into a commodity. Now days just about everything is being commodified, including cultures and their practices. Culture is where a community or group of people, be it a national community, a religious community or even a sporting community share values, beliefs and rules. It is also important to note that it is still possible for two people to be a part of the same national community and have the same national culture but still be a part of different religious communites and have different religious cultures. This is because the two different communities are categorized in different genres and thus the values, beliefs and rules of these genres are not related. Therefore there shouldn’t be much contradiction or limit in the values, beliefs and rules of different types of communties and cultures. The fact that different cultures of the same genre all over the world all practice their values, beliefs and rules differently has created a large market in the tourism industry. Many tourists are more than willing to spend their money on travelling to specific destinations to see and experience specific cultures and authentic cultural practices. The problem is that with the commodification of cultures and their practices; which ironically is the consequence of the same market that looks for authenticity; a loss in the authenticity of the culture and its commodified practices can be expected. In this essay I will be looking at
Commodification is often seen as the process by which raw materials are extracted, packaged and eventually turned into a product of value that can be sold. Now days because of the growth of globalization and commodity fetishism; commodification has become the transformations of a variety of things (things that may have had no previous value) including different goods, services and ideas into something of value that may even be sold. In other words commodification is when products, services or ideas are turned into a commodity. Now days just about everything is being commodified, including cultures and their practices. Culture is where a community or group of people, be it a national community, a religious community or even a sporting community share values, beliefs and rules. It is also important to note that it is still possible for two people to be a part of the same national community and have the same national culture but still be a part of different religious communites and have different religious cultures. This is because the two different communities are categorized in different genres and thus the values, beliefs and rules of these genres are not related. Therefore there shouldn’t be much contradiction or limit in the values, beliefs and rules of different types of communties and cultures. The fact that different cultures of the same genre all over the world all practice their values, beliefs and rules differently has created a large market in the tourism industry. Many tourists are more than willing to spend their money on travelling to specific destinations to see and experience specific cultures and authentic cultural practices. The problem is that with the commodification of cultures and their practices; which ironically is the consequence of the same market that looks for authenticity; a loss in the authenticity of the culture and its commodified practices can be expected. In this essay I will be looking at