Market is a social construction. Let's fight to reconstruct it !!!

This is a well written piece from Mas Dedy's notes. Read it, Think about it, and Do something about it!


Market (for media industries, including television industry) is not a "natural" reality, nor an "objective", legitimate, inevitable and something which is "out there". Market is always a social constuction, with its own history, involving interest-based social actors, and power relations among them.
What are the laws, rules and regulations by which markets operate, how is the existing distribution of resources, what are the public wants, and how something came to be what the public wants (Termehek-mehek, Take Him Out, Bukan Empat Mata, Masihkah Kau Mencintaiku, etc), and how is the legimacy of market product -- all has its own history, and were socially constructed, under a specific power relations that in most cases unequally distributed. The market, therefore, tend to represent the interest of those with power surplus.
MacEwan (1999) told his father's favorite story, which is nicely can be used to give an illustration about the idea of "market is a social construction" :

A young London labourer, on his day off,decided to take a walk in the countryside. As he strolled through the woods, he came to a stone fence. Not seeing why this should limit his outing, he hoped over the fence and continued on his way. Rounding a turn in the path, he found himself face to face with a gentleman who said indignantly:
"Do you realize you are trespassing on my land?!"
The young labourer replied "So this is your land, is it?"
"Yes, indeed it is !!!" answered the gentleman.
"Well," the young labourer queried, "how did you get this land?"
"I got it from my father!"
"And how did your father get it??"
"He got it from my grandfather!!"
"And how did your grandfather got it?"
"From my grandfather's father" answered the increasingly irritated gentleman.
"And how did your grandfather's father got it?"
"Well I suppose he fought for it" proclaimed the gentleman, not without a hint of pride in his voice.
"All right, then," said the young labourer "I'll fight you for it !!!"