ZYGMUNT BAUMAN AND MARSHALL BERMAN: BIASES OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN MODERNITY AND CONSUMERISM

Abstract

This article analyzes the theoretical contributions of Zygmunt Bauman and Marshall Berman to the understanding of modernity and consumerism. It begins with a discussion of modernity as a historical condition and social experience marked by structural transformations in forms of economic, political, and cultural organization. Using a qualitative approach, based on an integrative literature review, it discusses the centrality of consumption in the organization of contemporary social relations and the transformation of the individual into a commodity. It concludes that, in modernity, consumption goes beyond the satisfaction of needs and begins to structure identities and social bonds, producing forms of subjectivity marked by volatility and market logic.