The problem can not be the fetish idea that commodities naturally have an exchange-value.
but does not enter my analysis insofar as I am not studying the different
Roy Ellen thinks the concept of fetishism as it is common to the
forms of currency over time. However this mechanism can be found else-
religious, sexual and economic spheres, and identifies a series of “cogni-
where in Marx’s explanation of commodity fetishism. There is a necessity
tive processes at work in the generation of […] fetishes” to characterize
to reduce labour to its quantitative aspect, and therefore to its general ho-
those fetishes. Those processes are:
mogeneous form, in order to exchange. There is a conflation of a narrow
12
“1. A concrete existence or the concretisation of abstractions; 2. The attribution of qualities of living organisms, often (though not exclu-
signifier – labour time, the quantitative expression of labour – with a larger signified which is labour itself in all its different aspects.
sively) human; 3. Conflation of signifier and signified; 4. An ambiguous re-
Concerning how fetishism affects the relations of power be-
lationship between control of object by people and of people by object.”13
tween the commodity and the individual, we can underline a certain ambi-
Marx’s account of the relationships that appear in the capitalist
guity within production and exchange. Is the commodity a tool to fulfill the
conditions of production and exchange correspond in some ways with
individual’s will to own another commodity which has use-value for him?
this definition of fetishism. The commodity, because it is measured in
Or is the producer a tool to the commodity insofar as the general nature
terms of general homogeneous labour, relates the individual workers with
of his labour and his will to exchange it allow the commodity to realize its
the total aggregate labour of society. The link between the individual and
apparent nature of exchange-value?
mankind, which even though it exists, is abstract, appears in capitalism
The frustrations that arise from our fetishist condition exist on
in the form of the commodity, a concrete object. Social, intangible rela-
two different levels: as fetishists we are deceived by the fetish we adore,
tionships are concretized in the commodity, asserting that in capitalism,
and as human beings in a particular geographical, cultural and historical
just as in religion: “human mental qualities [are] attributed to non-human
context we cannot be satisfied with our position as fetishists.
Marx himself enters this frame of thinking, saying that com-
Ellen’s framework of thinking concerning commodity fetishism
modities “appear as autonomous figures endowed with a life of their own,
already gives us an understanding of the position of commodity fetishist.
15
which enter into relations both with each other and with the human race.”
For the fetishist, the commodity does not only conceal social relations, it
At the moment of exchange, instead of having two producers compar-
is the concrete social relation. He sees in the commodity what connects
ing the labour they expended on their respective commodities, we have
him to the whole society of producers. Therefore by serving the purpose
two commodities comparing their intrinsic exchange-value. In the market,
of the commodity, which is to realize its exchange-value, we serve the
commodities seem to be at the natural origin of the prices, while price
whole community. It is our moral duty towards the fetishist society to do
formation is in fact a human social mechanism.
so. How does this come about in the real world? First, it becomes morally
bodies.”
14
Regarding the “conflation of the signifier and the signified,”
16
significant to be employed at all since the commodity has to be produced.
Ellen concentrates on the problem of the money form, which is relevant,
It becomes a goal to facilitate exchange, since the commodity exists for
12 13 14 15 16
Roy Ellen. “Fetishism”. Man, New Series. 23.2 (June 1988), 219 Ellen, 219 Ellen, 214 Marx,165 Ellen, 219
exchange. For instance, the increasing integration of the states in globalization through regional and international organizations such as the European Union, the ASEAN, the MERCOSUR or the NATO tend to diminish