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The Devil And Commodity Fetishism In South America

Could it be that he is trying to downplay the significance the role religous aspects, that are ubiquitous in the societies the book covers, play in shaping the use value systems that are prevalent pre Spanish conquest in an attempt to reinforce his Marxist doctrine that man's basic needs and the modes of production needed to supply them, form the fundamental base of societal structure, while failing to explore the significance the beliefs of the peasants play in shaping their reciprocal, use value economies?.
             He goes on to quote Giambattista Vico in his rejection of positivism which influenced Durkheim. Vico said that because men invented society they can know it and that ."it's principles are, therefore, to be found within the modification of our own human mind."(p.103) Taussig states that the "positivist view" of science keeps us from understanding the exploitave nature of capitalism. Quoting Weber also as saying this "formal rationality" was conducive to the formation of capitalism.(103) In keeping with his Marxist line he doesn't give any credence to Weber's view that society is made up of individuals whose social action is based primarily on values. He maintains that a societies' values are derived from their actions, specifically economic ones.
             The author takes a swipe at the "spirit of capitalism", saying that, not until the commodity economy is reified and "the soul itself becomes either a commodity or a deeply alienated spirit", which makes way for the "new spirit, the spirit of capitalism."(p.11) can a precapitalist society change from one in which man is the aim of production, to production being the aim of man. Implying that Weber's view of man producing beyond his basic needs, foregoing leisure, comes from an alienated and deformed soul.
             The case he makes for the alienation of peasant workers in the market driven economy is poignant. One of the most dramatic examples is that of a cane field worker in Columbia who collapses, seemingly unnoticed, from illness at work and even his pleas for water go unheeded.


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