SOC 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Commodity Fetishism, Planned Obsolescence, Unconscious Mind
17 Jul 2016
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Document Summary
Mode of production; today post-industrial consumer capitalist. Organization of life around the purchase of commodities. A complex set of dominant values and practices: ex. Planned obsolescence: products are designed to stop working after a certain amount of time so that the consumer will have to buy another one. Commodity fetishism: product itself is devoid of meaning, we give it meaning, fetishize it, limited edition . American industrialist henry ford pioneers line production system and develops first affordable car. Assembly line mass production applied to other industries. Massive increase in the amount of goods being produced. Advertising industry grows rapidly between 1920 and 1929 as corporations seek to create demand for goods: not to sell us products but to sell consumption as a value. In the 1920s there was an ethic of being thrifty and saving money was dominant. Advertisers work to cultivate an ethic of instant gratification and materialism.
