Commodity Fetishism

Abstract

Criticism and sarcasm are interspersed with description and analysis throughout Marx's work. Most of the criticism is aimed at one or another side of a single target: what Marx sees as capitalism's pretensions of freedom, equality, and prosperity in the face of exploitation and recurrent crises. But the remarks on commodity fetishism in the first volume of Capital seem to be directed at a different target. Here Marx tells us that a commodity is ‘a queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.’ But instead of going on to reveal the nature of commodites-the task that occupies him for the preceding 30 and subsequent 700 pages-Marx takes the opportunity to explore their ‘mystical’ character. The passage repays careful consideration. It is one of the few places in his mature writings in which Marx returns to the tone of his youthful works. It is also the passage in which commentators have claimed to find grounds for attributing a doctrine of ‘false consciousness’ to Marx.

The market ideology conception of fetishism: An interpretation and defense

“…William Roberts (2017), in particular, has built on Arthur Ripstein (1987) to argue that '[f] etishism ought to be understood as a form of domination rather than a form of false consciousness ' (2017, 85). I will describe the form of domination they have in mind in Section 4.…”

“…In recent years, mainly thanks to the efforts of Roberts (2017), drawing on Arthur Ripstein (1987), the market domination conception seems to have taken precedence. This is unfortunate, I believe.…”

“…According to the first conception, the concept of commodity fetishism alerts us to a form of market ideology that plays a crucial role in the reproduction of market domination (Cohen, 2000; Elster, 1986). On the second conception, by contrast, commodity fetishism refers to market domination itself, understood as a form of structural domination with a specific profit‐maximizing logic (Roberts, 2017, Vrousalis, 2017, Ripstein, 1987).…”

“…First, that while fetishism may involve certain representations, these are not ideological since they are not epistemically deficient, at least not by inclusion of falsehoods (Roberts, 2017). Second, that anyway we should understand fetishism as concerning activity in the market, not representations of the market, lest we lose sight of its practical significance (Ripstein, 1987).…”

Human development and alienation in the context of economic crisis in Vietnam

“…In short, commodity fetishism is an epistemic problem, involving the mistaking of appearance for commodity production (Ripstein 1987: 736). It plays an important role in creating alienation of consciousness that contributes significantly to alienation of human nature.…”