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Blade Runner Capitalism, the Transnational Corporation, and Commodification

Implications for Cultural Integrity

Department of Management and Employment Relations, University of Auckland

This paper examines the relationship between global capitalism, commodification, and cultural integrity from multiple levels of analysis ranging from the macro to the micro. The macro approach questions the salience of the globalization thesis and argues that the future articulation of what I call Blade Runner capitalism will be less integrative than the Fordist-Keynesian capitalism of the past, thereby increasing the space for cultural integrity in many regions. The micro approach examines the nature of the commodity form through the diverse theoretical lenses of Marx, Weber, Veblen, and Baudrillard. I point out weaknesses in the formulations of both Marx and Weber, and turn to Veblen and Baudrillard for a fuller interpretation of commodity form. From this positionality, I argue that spaces for resistance to the hegemony of economic rationality may exist within the commodification process and the commodity form rather than apart from them. I conclude that globalization is not the all-encompassing threat to cultural integrity that many observers argue; nor does commodity status rule out effective resistance to cultural hegemony.

Key Words: commodification • culture globalization • transnational • corporations

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