By the development of the neoliberal postfordist form of capitalism, Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism was transformed: social relations among people as objects began to emerge as social relations between genuine people. A characteristic of the capitalist mode of production is that things also acquire the exchange (market) value that is constructed in the market in addition to their use-value. The latter gains the connotation of the "self-evident natural necessity" of everything even though, in reality, it is nothing more than a construct of the specific historical conditions of social production. In the neoliberal postfordist form of capitalism, cognitive activities have taken the central role in the realization of surplus-value. Therefore, the social value relationship between things attaches to people as carriers of the cognitive ability and begins to express their social utility which expresses also their self-realization proportionally. In such a society, the individual is perceived as a virtuosic individual with his specific abilities, competencies, and skills. Therefore, he can be valued at most concerning his ability to occupy a certain social position as quickly as possible and to improve it constantly. To the individual, his exchange (market) value is shown as a justified result of his competence, inner psychic power, and level of self-realization.
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