Reification: World as Thing and Object

In Reification, Kevin Rhowbotham delivers a radical diagnosis of contemporary life. Drawing on Marx, Lukács, Adorno, Debord, and Baudrillard, he argues that we no longer simply live in a society of commodities-we inhabit a totalising society of reification, in which fluid human relations freeze into static, thing-like objects. From the smartphone's swipe to the algorithm's verdict, from the curated self to the financialisation of emotion, Rhowbotham traces how reification has escaped the factory floor. It now colonises consciousness, intimacy, and politics. The economy appears as a natural force. Identity becomes a brand. Grief becomes a problem to be managed. Yet this book is not fatalism. Against the thing-ed world, Rhowbotham offers de-reification: a discipline of small refusals-repairing rather than replacing, lingering rather than scrolling, insisting that reality exceeds its categories. Accessible but rigorous, Reification is a vital tool for anyone who suspects that the world was made and therefore can be unmade. Perfect for readers of: Critical theory, cultural studies, media ecology, and political philosophy.