Contribution to the Critique of the Aesthetic Economy

Abstract

This article charts the emergence since the 1950s of a new value category, staging value, which arises when capitalism moves from addressing people's needs to exploiting their desires. Staging values serve the intensification and heightening of life rather than the satisfaction of primary needs. The article reevaluates successive theories on the relationship between aesthetics and the economy in the light of these changes, and suggests the continued relevance of critical theory in the era of the aesthetic economy.