Commodification of Evidence

The transformation of evidence from a tool for inquiry into a commodity that can be bought, sold, packaged, and branded. Evidence becomes a product: research reports with price tags, data sets as intellectual property, “evidence‑based” labels as marketing claims. The commodification of evidence means that access to evidence is unequal, that evidence can be manipulated for profit, and that the production of evidence follows market incentives rather than truth.

Example: “The pharmaceutical company owned the trial data and charged for access. Commodification of evidence: knowledge as property.”

Elitism of Evidence

The hierarchical assumption that certain kinds of evidence, produced by certain institutions and credentialed experts, are inherently superior to other ways of knowing. The elitism of evidence dismisses lived experience, oral tradition, and local knowledge as “anecdotal” or “unscientific,” regardless of their accuracy. It concentrates epistemic authority in the hands of a privileged few and systematically excludes marginalized voices from debates that affect them.

Example: “The panel of experts dismissed the farmers’ observations as ‘not evidence,’ even though the farmers had accurately predicted the drought for generations. Elitism of evidence: credentialing truth.”

Commodification of Evidence by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 20, 2026