Step 1: Understand the Core Concept: The question requires identifying the fundamental characteristics of capitalism, viewed through a critical or sociological lens, as indicated by terms like 'commodification' and 'surplus value'.
Step 2: Detailed Analysis:
(A) Commodification of Labour Power: A defining aspect of capitalism where labour is treated as a market commodity. Workers exchange their work capacity for wages from capitalists.
(B) Caste-Based Trading Networks: This characteristic belongs to traditional, pre-capitalist societies. Capitalism, ideally, operates on impersonal market principles, not on ascribed statuses like caste. While caste may interact with capitalism in specific contexts, it is not an intrinsic feature of the capitalist system.
(C) Surplus Value: A crucial concept in Marxist theory, surplus value represents the excess value generated by a worker beyond their wage, which is then claimed by the capitalist as profit. The extraction of surplus value drives capitalist accumulation.
(D) Increasing Inequalities: Many sociological and economic analyses suggest that capitalism inherently tends to create and amplify economic disparities between capital owners and the working class.
Therefore, (A), (C), and (D) are recognized as key features of capitalism as a social system.
Step 3: Conclusive Answer:
The accurate combination of features is (A) Commodification of labour power, (C) Surplus value, and (D) Rising inequalities.