A Dissection of Lifestyle in Capitalist Societies

Globalization of capitalism has led to the development, institutionalization and reproduction of its socio-cultural values in the world. One of its consequences is the spread and normalization of the concepts of ‘everyday life’ and ‘life style’ based on the principles and favorable society of capitalism. In other words, capitalism not only concerns modes of production and management of social economy, but also – as a comprehensive system – involves ontology, epistemology, anthropology, economics, politics, security as well as its unique and favorable culture. The rule of this system, naturally and essentially, implies the recommendation, promotion, institutionalization, and reproduction of a specific lifestyle. In other words, capitalism aims at a certain type of human and society although, as stated by Spivak, it tries to deny and hide its products and socio-cultural dimensions. The current concern of the country regarding the design and development of local and Islamic lifestyle shows how essential it is to identify the components of hegemonic capitalist lifestyle. Therefore, the present paper attempts to understand and dissect these components by asking the questions “What are the components of a capitalist lifestyle?” and “What is the articulation and relationship between these components?” The main hypothesis of the research is that the authenticity of profit and welfare, and capital accumulation in this system has led to the production and reproduction of certain components in the fields of popular culture, society-building, urbanization, architecture, and lifestyle. These components are quickness, consumerism, commodification, aesthetic matrix of capitalism, signification system of capitalism, technologic arrangement, utilitarianism, etc. To understand and assess these components, the authors made use of an eclectic theoretical framework, combining Frankfurt School, Gramscian School, and theories of Cultural Studies