Quasi-objects, Cult Objects and Fashion Objects

Theory, Culture and Society 28 (1):81-102 (2011)
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Abstract

This article attempts to rehabilitate the concept of fetishism and to contribute to the debate on the social role of objects as well as to fashion theory. Extrapolating from Michel Serres’ theory of the quasi-objects, I distinguish two phenomenologies possessing almost opposite characteristics. These two phenomenologies are, so I argue, essential to quasi-object theory, yet largely ignored by Serres’ sociological interpreters. They correspond with the two different theories of fetishism found in Marx and Durkheim, respectively. In the second half of the article, I introduce the fashion object as a unique opportunity for studying the interchange between these two forms of fetishism and their respective phenomenologies. Finally, returning to Serres, I briefly consider the theoretical consequences of introducing the fashion object as a quasi-object.

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Citations of this work

Serres and Foundations.Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen - 2020 - Theory, Culture and Society 37 (3):3-22.
Reification and Fetishism: Processes of Transformation.Sónia Silva - 2013 - Theory, Culture and Society 30 (1):79-98.

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References found in this work

Die Kunst der Gesellschaft.Niklas Luhmann - 1996 - European Journal of Philosophy 4 (3).
Les Formes Elementaires de la Vie Religieuse.Irving King - 1913 - Philosophical Review 22 (4):431.

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