Beyond Fetish and Animism: Interpretations of the Autonomy of Commodities

In recent decades, part of the human sciences has been dedicated to rethinking separations between subjects and objects, or, in another sense, nature culture. If, Western context, this separation guaranteed ontological primacy subjects, other strands thought have sought rediscover interactions including finding ways establish conditions autonomy objects by themselves. particular turning cultural context production capitalist societies, we ask about commodities. Depending on perspective adopt, commodity loses its economic attribute, reappearing with constitutive meanings. paper, trace a brief conceptual course contemporary interpretations that intend undo such separation. First, start Sigmund Freud’s critical comments animistic practices indigenous people Karl Marx’s fetishism. According Peter Stallybrass (2009), Marx would not be antagonistic fetish as possible form, but solely critic societies. Losing harmful character, reappears potential agent relations non-human bodies, according Latour (2005). Finally, speculate commodity-object reactivate interlacements contemporaneity.