Fremmedgjøring i en for rask verden: En undersøkelse av Hartmut Rosas akselerasjonsteori og fremmedgjøringsbegrep i lys av kritisk teori og Georg Lukács’ tingliggjøringsbegrep

Which concepts designate our time? This question in central to the present paper and to the theory of the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa (1965-). The paper has two goals: to give the first Norwegian account of Rosa’s theory of acceleration and to examine his concept of alienation in light of critical theory and Georg Lukács’ (1885–1971) concept of reification. Rosa claims that acceleration is the central characteristic of modernity. Acceleration can be observed in technological development, in the pace of social change, and in the everyday lives of modern individuals, who experience a heightening of their pace of life. According to Rosa, acceleration in late modernity has passed a critical threshold, and is now going too fast. This leads to late modern individuals losing the ability and possibilityto develop long-term life goals and a stable identity. The world around them becomes unpredictable and ever-changing, which leads to the individuals feeling alienated from time, place, their surroundings and their own actions, as well as from other individuals and themselves. Rosa thus examines social pathologies and how late modern individuals are hindered from realizing what they define as a good life. Through his critique of social pathologies, Rosa inscribes himself into the tradition of critical theory. The paper has therefore examined how Rosa can be included in this tradition and how his theory is similar to, or differs from, the theories and projects of other thinkers of the tradition of critical theory. The concept of alienation has a long history dating back to thinkers like G.W.F. Hegel (1773–1831) and Karl Marx (1818–1883). The concept was later embedded in Georg Lukács’ concept of reification. Drawing on insights and analytical tools from Reinhart Koselleck’s conceptual history, the paper examines how historical contexts and historical development add layers of meaning to a concept. The paper compares Lukács’ concept of reification to Rosa’s concept of alienation. A significant difference between the two thinkers is that Lukács writes about a class society in which factory workers, who produce goods, are reified, while Rosa writes about late modern office workers who are consumers of goods. Whereas the individual in Lukács’ writing becomes reified because she is made into an object in a rigid system, the late modern subject of Rosa’s acceleration theory becomes alienated because the world, social institutions and her own identity are made fluid