Amy Benck
SOC 385
Blog Week 2: Defining the Difference Values
One of the areas that Marx discussed was the different types of values objects can hold. First is the use value, which is an objects most fundamental utility. For example a bookshelf; the fundamental utility of a bookshelf is to hold and organize books. Second is the social value, which means that the object is meant to be useful to other people besides oneself. In the case of a bookshelf, Marx says that if an individual makes a bookshelf themselves and has full intentions of using it themselves then that bookshelf has no social value; it was never meant to be bought, sold, or exchanged by anyone. The third type of value is exchange value. This is the value that someone would pay to purchase the bookshelf, or the value that someone would place on the bookshelf in order to exchange it for another object of equal exchange value. In order to have exchange value, Marx reminds us that there must be a social value; there must be intentions of others using the object besides oneself.
In this way it is evident that these values are all very different, and hold differing amounts of importance in our everyday lives. It is necessary to consider which type of value an object has more of, and what that implies about that object in terms of how consumers view it, how it was made, and what process it had to go through to get to our hands. Just because something has a lot of use value does not necessarily mean that it holds a lot of exchange value, and there are certainly cases of the opposite as well. Consider a reusable shopping bag. The shopping bag is very useful in that a person can use it to carry groceries home, or they can use it to carry books or other personal items, as opposed to a purse, which most people would likely not use to carry their groceries home. That shopping bag has multiple uses. It does not, however, hold a lot of exchange value in that many grocery stores sell them for as little as 99 cents. Conversely, consider a medal from the Olympics. That medal has very little use value, if any at all, but it holds a lot of exchange value in that in order to be given one of those medals, an individual has to be an athlete, be very dedicated to their sport, and likely sacrifice other things while they are preparing for the Olympics so that they get the most use out of their time and are not distracted from their goal of winning. If one of the Olympians were to put their gold medal, for example, on amazon.com or craigslist, though not much can be done with it other than be admired, it would likely cost a large sum of money that not many people would be able to afford.
There are also items that are extremely useful that also hold a lot of exchange value, such as a laptop. Now days, laptops have many purposes which can help make life organized, efficient, productive, fun, and/ or entertaining. Since the parts that are used to make laptops are expensive, the laptop itself is very pricey, making both the use value and the exchange value very high.
Lastly, there are things that are neither high in use value, nor high in exchange value, such as party streamers. While they are effective in making a space look festive, they do not allow people to do much else with them, and they are also quite cheap as well.
As has been made evident, use value and exchange value are very different concepts and are context specific. When we claim that an object holds little value, we must remember to consider which type of value we are referencing because it holds different implications about the source of that object, where it came from, how it was made, who had to make it, what it was intended for, etc.
SOC 385
Blog Week 2: Defining the Difference Values
One of the areas that Marx discussed was the different types of values objects can hold. First is the use value, which is an objects most fundamental utility. For example a bookshelf; the fundamental utility of a bookshelf is to hold and organize books. Second is the social value, which means that the object is meant to be useful to other people besides oneself. In the case of a bookshelf, Marx says that if an individual makes a bookshelf themselves and has full intentions of using it themselves then that bookshelf has no social value; it was never meant to be bought, sold, or exchanged by anyone. The third type of value is exchange value. This is the value that someone would pay to purchase the bookshelf, or the value that someone would place on the bookshelf in order to exchange it for another object of equal exchange value. In order to have exchange value, Marx reminds us that there must be a social value; there must be intentions of others using the object besides oneself.
In this way it is evident that these values are all very different, and hold differing amounts of importance in our everyday lives. It is necessary to consider which type of value an object has more of, and what that implies about that object in terms of how consumers view it, how it was made, and what process it had to go through to get to our hands. Just because something has a lot of use value does not necessarily mean that it holds a lot of exchange value, and there are certainly cases of the opposite as well. Consider a reusable shopping bag. The shopping bag is very useful in that a person can use it to carry groceries home, or they can use it to carry books or other personal items, as opposed to a purse, which most people would likely not use to carry their groceries home. That shopping bag has multiple uses. It does not, however, hold a lot of exchange value in that many grocery stores sell them for as little as 99 cents. Conversely, consider a medal from the Olympics. That medal has very little use value, if any at all, but it holds a lot of exchange value in that in order to be given one of those medals, an individual has to be an athlete, be very dedicated to their sport, and likely sacrifice other things while they are preparing for the Olympics so that they get the most use out of their time and are not distracted from their goal of winning. If one of the Olympians were to put their gold medal, for example, on amazon.com or craigslist, though not much can be done with it other than be admired, it would likely cost a large sum of money that not many people would be able to afford.
There are also items that are extremely useful that also hold a lot of exchange value, such as a laptop. Now days, laptops have many purposes which can help make life organized, efficient, productive, fun, and/ or entertaining. Since the parts that are used to make laptops are expensive, the laptop itself is very pricey, making both the use value and the exchange value very high.
Lastly, there are things that are neither high in use value, nor high in exchange value, such as party streamers. While they are effective in making a space look festive, they do not allow people to do much else with them, and they are also quite cheap as well.
As has been made evident, use value and exchange value are very different concepts and are context specific. When we claim that an object holds little value, we must remember to consider which type of value we are referencing because it holds different implications about the source of that object, where it came from, how it was made, who had to make it, what it was intended for, etc.