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Timothy Macneill - "The End of Transformation? Culture as the Final Fictitious Commodity"
Abstract:
The relevant core of Polanyi's (1944) argument is recounted and updated for the current epoch. The argument's implications for human creative cultural interaction are then explored. It is argued that current moves toward the extensive commodification of culture, information and knowledge, represent an attempt to complete a project that was started in the 18th century through the "fictitious" commodification of land, labour, and money: the construction of an entirely self-regulating global market, with society and sociality run as an adjunct to the economic sphere. Using empirical and theoretical observations, it is argued that the complete creation of a self-regulating market society hinges on the successful commodification of a fourth and final fictitious commodity: culture. Although it is argued that this commodification is virtually impossible, it is asserted that attempts to do so bring with them important changes in human subjectivities and interactions that must be addressed through policy, research, and vigilance.
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