Publication (142 pages).

The shift from modernity to postmodernity and the changing nature of objects
to signs affected the concept of fetishism. Baudrillard emphasized, “men of
wealth are no longer surrounded by other human beings...but by objects”. Interaction
with material items has increased as human relations have decreased.
Thus, “we have come to live in less proximity to other human beings...and more
under the silent gaze of deceptive and obedient objects”. Because we are absent
from other humans, objects begin to take the place of human interactions and
relations. In a way, material goods have come to surround us in such a way as
to alienate and dominate us. Indeed, we have created these products that are
assisting in a type of de-humanization by breaking apart societal bonds. Objects
are capable of destroying relationships due to their increasing presence,
despite us having produced the goods. We have created and reified alienation
from ourselves, while working within the controlling forces of the law of exchange.
This fetishism shifts the alienation and exploitation from the worker
to every consuming person in society, thus increasing destruction. The postmodern
shift in objects appears simple at first: material objects become signs for
people to consume, shifting from physical items to embodied meaning.But this
shift generated changes in the consumption process: it increased the presence
of consumption in society, affected the relation between consumers and goods
by changingneeds and desires, and began infringing on human relationships
while increasing its alienating qualities. These aspects have come to be important
characteristics of consumer society.
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