Utopias of Things: Man and Objects in the Social Order

This essay offers a profound reflection on the role of objects in shaping social order, rejecting the common understanding of utopia as a naive fantasy. The author defines it as an epistemological revolt that questions the foundations of our axiology in the face of the dominance of market logic. Juxtaposing Marcel Mauss's classical theories of gift exchange and Plato's communal visions with Jeremy Rifkin's modern concept of a zero-marginal-cost economy, the text charts the transformation from possession to sharing. It examines how objects—from gifts to commodities—construct our identities and define social justice in an age of digital abundance and prosumption.