Running head: MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 1

Material and Ideological Conditions

Name

Institution
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 2

Material and Ideological Conditions

The current market society shows a significant shift from the norm a few years ago.

Polanyi has defined a market society as one that self regulates its market, and it therefore a

system governed by market prices alone. This form of economy is driven by the expectations that

a society will tend to behave a certain way in order to accrues as much returns as possible. It is

on the basis of this assumption that Polanyi (1957) defines the occurrence of a market society as

being “the greatest transformation”.

The transfer of an economic system to a market system is a fundamental change since a

market is able to regulate itself. The first priority of a market society is the individual unlike in

the previous systems. In this paper, the change that take place in the work place setting will be

evaluated and this discussion will be extended to an assessment of the worldview of individuals

that make up the market society in the context of Protestant work ethic as well as the spirit of

capitalism. The final segment of this paper will analyze the importance the ideological

circumstances that brought emergence of a market society will be presented.

One of the characteristics of a market society is that it is fully regulated, controlled and

engaged by markets only and this causes it to self-regulate. Based on Polanyi’s assessment, a

self-regulating structure implies that the system is has the potential to organize the economy

without the need for external interference (Polanyi, 1957).

Such a market has the ability to determine what products to manufacture as well as how

to distribute these goods and their complimentary services. On the other hand, based on

Helibroner (2012), the traditions of a society provide a mode with which to define social
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 3

structuring within which production and circulation are influenced by procedures developed in

the past, and which are currently upheld by custom or the forces of belief.

Societies that are founded on tradition tend to solve economic issues manageably.

Therefore, those societies that work on the principle of regulations often depend on imposed rule

of economic need. Also, economic issues can be solved on the basis of the decisions deemed fit

by the commander in chief (Helibroner, 2012).

Emergence of fictitious goods is also characteristic of a market society. According to

Polanyi (year), goods are herein thought of as objects that are offered for sale at a market

(Polanyi, 1957). Fictitious good imply land, labor or money. However, labor money and land are

perceptibly not goods in principle, and therefore, the assumption that anything availed for sale

qualifies to be a commodity is not true empirically; based on the empirical classification of

commodities, these elements are not commodities or goods (Polanyi, 1957).

In a market society, all things are offered as commodities and therefore, money and labor

form the major factors of production. However, under a feudalist structure and the gild system,

labor and land form a significant part of the social order since money had not fully developed

into a means of exchange (Polanyi, 1957). Land, which is a fundamental element under the

feudalist system, was the underlying currency of the judicial, military, political as well as

administrative system. The status associated with land was determined through customary and

legal laws (Polanyi, 1957).

Presently, money forms a perfunctory means of purchase and is symbolic in trading

relations. The shift to a market society is astounding since each element of our social order has is
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 4

embedded into the market system of the market society, and it has remained complex when

compared to the gild system.

Adding great significance to the unique nature of the market society is the a third

characteristic. For those individuals who reside under a market system, economic merits that

arise out of interest are by far superior to individual preference; the key element to protect is

individual wealth.

Previous social organizations regarded economic power, in principle, as being entrenched

in their social relations, and therefore, their actions were in defense of their individual social

class, claims and assets (Polanyi, 1957). Such strict regard for wealth and social standing arose

due to lack of care for individual interests and working for the good of the community ensured

food for all, and this is evident in tribal communities (Polanyi, 1957).

Members of a tribal community do not tend to leave their families since, in the long run,

obligations in such communities are reciprocatory. Under such a circumstance, it is not wise to

put individual interest above those of the general community (Rinehart, 1996). Therefore, from

structures that uphold social connotations in the recent past to current market society, there has

been a shift in the attitudes of individuals towards personal interests. There has been a significant

from not caring about personal preferences, to giving impeccable consideration to individual

wants, and this is responsible for giving significance to the development of market society.

Under the market system, many important changes have ensued in work places, for

instance the shift to dissection of labor. Due to an underdeveloped market structure, an

elementary division of labor arose and was expressed in specializations that had limited diversity

and in the number of duties that individuals performed (Rinehart, 1996). As an example, Artisans
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 5

were empowered with the capacity to direct a full work structure. However, the same cannot be

said of the Canadian structure, since it developed out of competitiveness; the force that drives a

capitalist structure is the need to accumulate as much profit as possible (Rinehart, 1996).

Consequently, employers became specialized and this led to rationalization of the work practice,

and the installation of machine to replace workers and to reduce reliance on skilled labor. Prior

to this revolutionary change, work done was dependent on need, and therefore individuals would

cease to work once their personal needs were satisfied.

Under a market system, individual world view is known as the spirit of capitalism. It

underscores the belief that the society should perform their duties well when performing their

duties. Such should be the case not because one is forced to but out of a personal drive; this

forms personal virtue and I brings satisfaction (Bendix, 1962).

Protestant work ethic provides the drive that steers the spirit of capitalism and reinforces

it with an influential ethical backing lending the spirit of capitalism as well as economic

functions the necessary legitimacy (Bendix, 1962). The underlying principle of the protestant

work ethic is the fact that is forms part of a society’s way of living that is predestined by God

and it is on the basis of this principle that each one of us should prove our individual worth

(Bendix, 1962).

The relationship between protestant work ethic and the spirit of capitalism is based on the

urge for each individual’s ability to show hard work, exercise control over one’s own happiness,

and multiply ventures to increase individual worth (Bendix, 1962). However, both principles

share a number of differences. Whereas protestant work ethic views continuous hard work as a

means of pleasing God and earn His favor, the spirit of capitalism advances the view that

working hard allows for more wealth and an exceptional life as well (Bendix, 1962).
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 6

As the protestant work ethic exhibits a shift towards the concept of the spirit of

capitalism, its values also shift from a religious perspective to a rational approach to wealth and

hard work. The importance of the protestant work ethic is that it has helped the spirit of

capitalism to overcome and shed the demerits of traditionalism in the context of economics, but

it has not been able to create and maintain a new form of economic structure (Bendix, 1962).

Furthermore, capitalism, being the way of life that is popularly embraced by the idiosyncrasies

associated with capitalism, has the potential to dominate the rest and become a form of life that is

accepted by many groups.

In conclusion, the three key features of a market society include self-regulation, fictitious

goods as well as a focus on personal needs. The interrelatedness of these three components is

responsible for the shift to a market society. Under a market society, division of labor created

specializations that have led to effectiveness in production processes. A market society

encourages a form of life that is embraced by a whole group and not just a few Isolation.
MATERIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS 7

References

Bendix, Richard. (1962). “Aspects of Economic Rationality in the West”. New York: Anchor

Books.

Heilbroner, R. L. (2012). “The Economic Problem. The making of economic society”. Upper

Saddle River, N.J: Pearson.

Polanyi, K. (1957). “The self-regulating market and the fictitious commodities: Labor, land and

money”. Boston: Beacon Press.

Rinehart, James W. (1996). “Alienation and the Development of Industrial Capitalism in

Canada.” “Solution to Alienated Labor.” The Tyranny of Work. Toronto: Harcourt

Brace.