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Fetishism: A Preliminary Exegesis

In: Fetishism and the Theory of Value

Author

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  • Desmond McNeill

    (University of Oslo)

Abstract

I present a preliminary exegesis of the concept of fetishism, based on the famous quotation from Chapter 1 of the first volume of Capital: “There (with commodities) it is a definite social relation between men, that assumes, in their eyes, the fantastic from of a relation between things”. I discuss what other writers have made of this, before analysing each component of the statement in turn: ‘a relation’; ‘a social relation between men’; ‘relation between things’; and ‘assumes the fantastic form of …’. This raises a number of issues: most notably Marx’s emphasis on the social as opposed to the material, or natural; and his rather equivocal phrasing: ‘assumes the fantastic form’. This appears to leave open the question of whether the capitalist system somehow ‘produces’ this form, and whether it is ‘real’ or a self-serving and deliberate mystification.

Suggested Citation

  • Desmond McNeill, 2021. "Fetishism: A Preliminary Exegesis," Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Fetishism and the Theory of Value, edition 1, chapter 4, pages 39-55, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pshchp:978-3-030-56123-9_4
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-56123-9_4
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