TY - JOUR
T1 - Standardization as a means for globalizing a commodity
T2 - The case of rapeseed in China
AU - Tanaka, Keiko
AU - Busch, Lawrence
PY - 2003/3
Y1 - 2003/3
N2 - Not all commodities are things, nor are all things available in society commodities. Then, what are commodities? Using the case of rapeseed and its products in China, this paper examines the role of grades and standards (G&S) in simultaneously determining the life of things as commodities and the position of humans as market participants. In the first section, we summarize our conceptual understandings of commodities. Next, the paper examines tests and trials to which rapeseed in China were subjected by the mid 1990s. We then discuss how G&S represent political processes among commodity chain actors for creating, legitimizing and maintaining the social relations between things and people. Lastly, we discuss our conclusion that the analysis of tests and trials helps us understand the process of commodification as simultaneous transformations of humans and things in a commodity chain while reorganizing linkages among these actors.
AB - Not all commodities are things, nor are all things available in society commodities. Then, what are commodities? Using the case of rapeseed and its products in China, this paper examines the role of grades and standards (G&S) in simultaneously determining the life of things as commodities and the position of humans as market participants. In the first section, we summarize our conceptual understandings of commodities. Next, the paper examines tests and trials to which rapeseed in China were subjected by the mid 1990s. We then discuss how G&S represent political processes among commodity chain actors for creating, legitimizing and maintaining the social relations between things and people. Lastly, we discuss our conclusion that the analysis of tests and trials helps us understand the process of commodification as simultaneous transformations of humans and things in a commodity chain while reorganizing linkages among these actors.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.2003.tb00127.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.2003.tb00127.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0037356975
SN - 0036-0112
VL - 68
SP - 25
EP - 45
JO - Rural Sociology
JF - Rural Sociology
IS - 1
ER -