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Commodity Fetishism and Domination: the Contributions of Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno and Bourdieu

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Commodity Fetishism and Domination: the Contributions of Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno and Bourdieu View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) Commodity Fetishism and Domination: The Contributions of Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno and Bourdieu Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts of Rhodes University by Gareth Lloyd March 2008 Abstract This thesis seeks to trace domination theory back to the influential work done by Marx on commodity fetishism. Marx's work proves to be an original account of domination that explains how the dominated many accept the rule of the privileged few. The theory of commodity fetishism develops the idea that individuals come to adopt beliefs that bolster and reproduce the status quo of capitalism. For Marx, the way that individuals experience capitalism is different from the way that it actually works because, in fact, lived experience is actually false. Oppression, inequality and exploitation are thus hidden and the main source of conflict between the oppressed many and the privileged few is obscured. I seek to develop this insight of Marx's into a more comprehensive account of how dominating capitalism self maintains. Lukács' theory of reification explains how capitalism has become all-embracing because capitalism has developed its own type of rationality. This specific rationality shapes thought, which in turn, generates false beliefs that favour the continuation of the status quo. Horkheimer and Adorno argue that capitalism extends its influence by means of its deep involvement in modern culture. Today, culture has become an massive industry which inculcates the logic and principles of capitalism into individuals. For these theorists, capitalism has penetrated all areas of life; experience, knowledge and thought have become extensions of capitalism itself. Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer and Adorno give accounts of how false beliefs are put into practice. Hence the importance of the work of Bourdieu. Bourdieu's theory of distinction describes how the status quo in capitalism is maintained by the behaviour of individuals through their daily acts of consumption. I argue that the consumption of commodities reproduces the status quo in two ways: firstly, establishing an upper-class which takes the lead in patterns of consumption, and, secondly, by creating a middle class that follows its example. Finally, I relate Bourdieu's insights to the theories of Marx, Lukács, Horkheimer and Adorno and Bourdieu in order to arrive at a more inclusive account of how (and why) domination persists. i Contents Abstract p.i Acknowledgments p.iv Introduction p.1 Chapter 1 p.4 1. Introduction to Marx and Commodity Fetishism p.4 2. Classical Economics and the Appearance Forms of Capitalism p.4 3. The Concept of Fetishism: Religious Fetishism p.6 4. Commodity Fetishism and Alienation p.8 5. An Analysis of the Commodity p.10 6. Use-Value p.11 7. Exchange-Value and the Labour Theory of Value p.12 8. The Theory of Surplus Value p.15 9. Money and Fetishism p.17 10. Commodity Fetishism and the Distortion of the Social p.20 11. Objections to the Theory of Commodity Fetishism p.23 Chapter 2 p.28 1. Introduction: The Contribution of Lukács p.28 2. Reification and the Commodity p.30 3. Formal Rationality p.32 4. Reification, Law and Bureaucracy p.39 5. Reification and Society p.41 6. The Subject-Object Relationship p.42 7. Reification and Philosophy p.44 8. The Principle of Practice p.49 9. The Object as Worker and the Worker as Object p.51 10. Dialectics and the Theory of History p.55 11. Lukács' Theory of History p.56 12. On Dialectical Method p.60 ii 13. Critique of Lukács p.62 Chapter 3 p.72 1. Critical Theory: The Contribution of Horkheimer and Adorno p.72 2. The Shift from Ideological Critique to the Meta-Critique of Instrumental Rationality p.73 3. Reason and Instrumental Rationality p.78 4. Negative Dialectics p.82 5. The Dialectic of Enlightenment p.85 6. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception p.90 1. Mass Production and the Loss of True Individuality and Freedom p.93 2. The Prescription of Normative Frameworks p.96 3. The Repression of Dissidence and Rebellion p.103 4. The Debasement of Art by Entertainment p.104 7. Some Critiques of Dialectic of Enlightenment p.106 Chapter 4 p.113 1. An Introduction to Bourdieu p.113 2. Commmodity Fetishism, Reificaton and Instrumental Rationality p.116 3. Horkheimer and Adorno on Culture: The Contribution of Bourdieu p.118 4. Commodities and Symbolic Power p.121 5. Commodity Fetishism and Cultural Capital p.124 6. The Social Role of Commodities Today: Symbolic Power and Domination p.127 7. Mass Society p.131 8. Distinction as a Zero Sum Game p.133 9. The Vanguard and the Consumption of High-Culture p.137 10. Commodity Fetishism and Domination p.141 11. Conclusion p.145 References p.149 iii Acknowledgments First, and foremostly, I am indebted to my supervisor Tony Fluxman for all the time and work that he dedicated to reading and critiquing draft chapters of this thesis. His knowledge and patience are greatly appreciated. A special thanks must be given to my family who have all contributed extensively to my livelihood whilst I have been a student. To my father, you have given me the privilege of pursuing my interest at University for as long as I required. Thank you. To my mother and sister, thank you for your continued support and generosity. Your kindness has kept me afloat for many years. This thesis could not have been completed without the help, support and generosity of Claire Martens. I am immensely indebted to you for all you have done. Final thanks are given to the unnamed external examiners of this thesis who are prepared to dedicate their time and effort to reading, and contributing to, social theory. iv Introduction In the 19th century, Marx developed a a body of work that dealt with the political economy of capitalism. More specifically, he set out to explain in great detail how capitalism works, how it is maintained, and how individuals are exploited within it. By identifying the exploitation inherent in the capitalist system of production however, he also created the need for an explanation of why the exploited accept social conditions that are against their best interests. In attempting to give a reason for this, Marx developed a theory of ideology which can be extended to an explanation of why the underprivileged many accept the rule of the privileged few. Marx called his original account a theory of “false consciousness”, which has since expanded into the field of domination theory. In the 20th century many thinkers developed Marx's work into an account of how the dominated come to develop beliefs that promote the interests of the status quo. The implication of this argument is that the dominated come to behave in such a way that they actively embrace, and reproduce, conditions of their own domination. Domination theory itself owes a huge debt to the work of Marx; in particular to his theory of commodity fetishism. The work of Lukács, the Frankfurt school, and Bourdieu all use the core concept of commodity fetishism to substantiate their social theories. The concept of commodity fetishism is therefore a traceable strand of thought that has been developed historically, and still enjoys validity in modern social theory. In fact, the concept, in its developed form, can be used as a critical tool that is capable of rendering new insights into the question facing domination theory (chapter 4). Marx's theory of commodity fetishism is invaluable in its contribution to the theory of ideology because it provides the original insight into how capitalist reality can present itself to the dominated observer in such a way that it hides real conditions of exploitation and inequality. Exploitation is thus kept hidden from the dominated individual. Her experience of reality instead suggests that she is not exploited, and that her social position is unquestionable. For many theorists, this is one of the more compelling explanations of why domination has persisted throughout history to this day. A return to the core concept of the commodity fetish will allow us to see the way in which Marx's original insight was developed into the social theories of Lukács, Horkheimer, Adorno and Bourdieu. A focus upon the commodity will also reveal how the commodity itself is instrumental to the entire system of capitalism. It is of particular interest to determine the way in which the commodity contributes to the reproduction of the status quo, what makes it so important and what maintains its prevalence in capitalist society. 1 This will require an understanding of the cultural importance of commodities in modern society, and how commodities have come to be associated with culture itself (chapter 3, 4). The role and importance of commodities in maintaining conditions of domination however must first be traced back to Marx, which is the intended focus of chapter 1. After replying to some objections to the theory of commodity fetishism, the economic critique of commodity fetishism is developed into a broader social critique of reification by focusing upon the work of George Lukács. The work of George Lukács (chapter 2) was seminal in developing domination theory, and greatly influenced the direction of the theory of ideology and false consciousness. Lukács' theory of reification dealt directly with why the proletariat, faced with conditions of exploitation and servitude, remained passive. Reification has since become a widely used term, which Lukács originally used to describe how the economic and social systems of capitalism present themselves to individuals in a manner that obscures their inner workings.
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