CAPITALISM AS RELIGION: assumptions of a Benjaminian diagnosis

The article aims to analyze and comprehend the text Capitalism as religion, written by Walter Benjamin in 1921. This analysis is proposed in order to understand the imperative Benjamin brings in the pages of such fragment: the duty to read capitalism as a religion. This, in turn, is done by describi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Loner Santana, Izabela
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
Repositorio:Pólemos (Brasília)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/23366
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/polemos/article/view/23366
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Capitalismo. Walter Benjamin. Religião. Marxismo. Modernidade.
Capitalism. Walter Benjamin. Religion. Marxism. Modernity.
Descripción
Sumario:The article aims to analyze and comprehend the text Capitalism as religion, written by Walter Benjamin in 1921. This analysis is proposed in order to understand the imperative Benjamin brings in the pages of such fragment: the duty to read capitalism as a religion. This, in turn, is done by describing this religion, its cult and understanding the Benjaminian criticism of its logic, which was no longer restricted to the economy or the organization of modern society, but crossed and surpassed all the scopes of human life. These criticisms allow the emergence of one of the most striking features of the fragment: despite being a highly anti-capitalist and critical text, it is very distant from Marxist theory and tradition, often being critical to it, since it is elaborated in a period in which Benjamin is closer to a romantic and libertarian socialism than to a socialism of Marxist orientation.