Commodification and decommodification: a developmental critique

Esping-Andersen's influential analysis of decommodification, and his depict ion of three worlds of welfare capitalism, is rooted in the writings of Mar x and Polanyi. However, whereas Esping-Andersen focuses on the way that com modification threatens the basic consumption needs of the labourer, Marx an d Polanyi were equally concerned with its denial of the labourer's scope fo r self-development and critical social transformation. This paper first arg ues that even Esping-Andersen's analysis of decommodification in relation t o consumption is flawed; it then proceeds to operationalise the notion of d ecommodification for self development. Making use of the available cross-na tional data, the paper produces decommodification scores for a range of OEC D countries which challenge the mapping inherited from Esping-Andersen,and which view welfare regimes in terms of their capacity to promote a creative , critical and highly skilled labour force. At the same time, it acknowledg es that such composite indexes of decommodification depend on political val ue choices as to the overall priorities and organisation of society. The pa per thus provides a new standpoint from which to analyse welfare regimes in relation to decommodification: one which gives a central place to educatio n and vocational training, as forms of social investment.