branded

THE COMMODIFICATION OF SELF WOULD SEEM TO BE A

misnomer. If a commodity is a product, something that can be bought

and sold, then in what sense can the self be commodified? Without any

claim to being exhaustive, I want to discuss two possible meanings. A

first is that self-understanding is mediated by the consumption of goods

and images. In this sense, self-definition depends on the appropriation

of the traits of commodities. We know who we are and we judge the

quality of our inner experience through identification with the things

we buy. A second meaning of self-commodification involves the reorga-

nization of our personal lives and relationships on the model of market

relations. This adaptation is well illustrated by the recent practice of

"personal branding,” a strategy of cultivating a name and image of our-

selves that we manipulate for economic gain. Both of these meanings

of self-commodification concern the terms in which we define our-

selves and our well-being, and each has been facilitated by the loosen-

ing of self-definitions from specific social roles and obligations.