Self and Lack Thereof: On Kierkegaard and Capitalism
In the age of social media, identity is becoming increasingly fluid and fragmented: with greater access to information comes more exposure to new perspectives and personalities, and for every side of our selves, there is a channel to express it and an audience at the ready. This explosion of identities fits neatly into the logic of consumer capitalism: more identities means more markets. Thus, identity fluidity – a concept that has liberatory potential – ends up reinforcing existing capitalist structures. Søren Kierkegaard, as one of the early experts on identity, presents a useful lens to explore this contradiction.
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