Given that a commodity is an artefact, symbol, or idea that can be exchanged, usually for money, decommodification would indicate that a commodity no longer has a status as such. This might result when it is thrown away, or when it is no longer deemed by ethical consumers to be exchangeable: if the commodity is produced by child labour, if its production or transportation pollutes the environment, and so on. As an example of this sort of decommodification, in 2006 the Dalai Lama stated that Tibetans should cease wearing clothing lined with skins of endangered animals (Yeh (2013) J. Asian Studs 72, 2, 319).

Decommodification is also conceived as ‘any political, social, or cultural process that reduces the scope and influence of the market in everyday life’ (Vail, Politics & Soc. (2010) 38, 3, 310). In a decommodified system, welfare services such as education and healthcare are provided to all and are not linked to market processes because they are seen as an entitlement rather than as a commodity that must be paid for or traded.