The subject of objects: Marx, new materialism, & queer forms of life
This article examines two interrelated themes in the scholarship categorized as 'new materialism': first, the aim to undermine the subject/object distinction; second, the proposition that agency exists across the material world. While new materialists, such as Jane Bennett, conceive of the...
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| Published in | Journal for cultural research Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 167 - 179 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Abingdon
Taylor & Francis Ltd
03.04.2018
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 1479-7585 1740-1666 |
| DOI | 10.1080/14797585.2018.1461348 |
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| Abstract | This article examines two interrelated themes in the scholarship categorized as 'new materialism': first, the aim to undermine the subject/object distinction; second, the proposition that agency exists across the material world. While new materialists, such as Jane Bennett, conceive of their approach as an intervention against the injurious effects of capitalism, I argue that destabilizing the object/subject binary and endowing inanimate objects with vitality and agency is actually a constitutive feature of capitalism itself. To illustrate this point, I turn to Marx's analysis, providing a queer reading of his theorization of commodities. Revisting Marx's account of commodity fetishism in tandem with new materialism yields fresh insights into the logics of capitalism, specifically, the manner in which it thrives on concurrently producing and erasing subjectivities, thereby distorting social materiality and material sociality. |
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| AbstractList | This article examines two interrelated themes in the scholarship categorized as 'new materialism': first, the aim to undermine the subject/object distinction; second, the proposition that agency exists across the material world. While new materialists, such as Jane Bennett, conceive of their approach as an intervention against the injurious effects of capitalism, I argue that destabilizing the object/subject binary and endowing inanimate objects with vitality and agency is actually a constitutive feature of capitalism itself. To illustrate this point, I turn to Marx's analysis, providing a queer reading of his theorization of commodities. Revisting Marx's account of commodity fetishism in tandem with new materialism yields fresh insights into the logics of capitalism, specifically, the manner in which it thrives on concurrently producing and erasing subjectivities, thereby distorting social materiality and material sociality. |
| Author | Cole, Alyson |
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| Cites_doi | 10.1086/345321 10.1215/9780822392996 10.1177/0090591703260853 10.1086/421123 10.1017/CBO9780511819582 10.1086/449030 10.1177/0305829813486849 10.1080/03085147600000017 10.1215/9780822391623 10.1007/978-0-387-74711-8 10.3917/dec.balib.2014.01 10.1515/9781400884537 10.4159/9780674037045 |
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| References | CIT0010 Foley D. (CIT0022) 1986 Glick E. (CIT0024) 2009 CIT0031 Marx K. (CIT0036) 1981 CIT0012 Rubin I. I. (CIT0044) 2008 Agamben G. (CIT0001) 2007 Latour B. (CIT0030) 1999 Foucault M. (CIT0023) 1978 Latour B. (CIT0032) 2011 Marx K. (CIT0035) 1976 Heatherington K. (CIT0026) 2007 Delanda M. (CIT0019) 2006 de Brosse C. (CIT0014) 1760 CIT0013 Althusser, L. (CIT0002) 2006 CIT0016 Rancière J. (CIT0043) 2015 CIT0015 CIT0018 Marx K. (CIT0040) 1996; 35 CIT0017 Mulvey L. (CIT0041) 1996 CIT0020 CIT0042 Baudrillard J. (CIT0007) 1981 Lukacs G. (CIT0033) 1971 Baumann H. (CIT0008) 1931 Marx K. (CIT0034) 1974 Hacker P. M. S. (CIT0025) 2013 Hyman S. E. (CIT0027) 1962 Marx K. (CIT0039) 1970 Marx K. (CIT0037) 1993 Balibar E. (CIT0005) 2014 CIT0004 Schmidt Im. (CIT0045) 1913 CIT0006 CIT0028 CIT0009 Sypher W. (CIT0046) 1948; 10 |
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| Title | The subject of objects: Marx, new materialism, & queer forms of life |
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