colloquium48 - Mirela Ivanova: Reification in Contemporary Capitalism

Artistic means are subject to historical change: Musical techniques, scenic devices and visual forms are constantly being revisioned and renewed. In the background of this, there are social transformations that initiate, drive or even force artistic developments. In this way, art expresses and reflects tendencies that shape contemporary life in general. The lectures of this series offer insights into contemporary social transformations which are studied by social sciences, anthropology, cultural studies and humanities. These sciences shed light on controversies that shape the present and its images of the past.

In her talk, sociologist Mirela Ivanova will present her analysis of contemporary forms of reification. Reification is a key concept of Marxism – introduced by Georg Lukács – that denotes situations when relations between human subjects appear as relations between mere things or objects. Ivanova will explain and actualize this concept in order to understand the contemporary transformation of work and labour for example by gamification and the illusion of agency. In the discussion with Ivanova we will investigate whether similar forms of objectification or reification are observable in the field of artistic production.

Mirela Ivanova is an assistant and PhD researcher at the Chair of Social Structure Analysis at the University of Basel. She held a PhD scholarship from the University of Basel's Research Fund for Excellent Junior Researchers. From September 2019 to October 2023, she was a PhD researcher in the project "Digital Alienation and Appropriation of Work" at the same chair. From November 2017 to June 2019, she was a Research Associate at the Chair of Prof. Dr. Eva Kocher at the Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). Mirela Ivanova holds a Master's degree in Sociology – European Societies from the Free University of Berlin and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Sofia University.