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The uncertain future of cities: a nihilist reflection on urban Atopias

Abstract

The spread of consumerism and the transformation of being into value-being, combined with the increasing transformation of things into commodities, has turned contemporary society into the most striking expression of consumer society, characterized above all by excess, the banalization of life, disposability, human expulsion and the violent obscenity of exchange. The city Atopic, with its inescapable frustrations of unattainable goals of success, production and happiness, may lead us to think that an alternative of emancipation, as initially proposed by the modern project, would no longer be possible. Would nihilism remain to understand the impoverished life of meaning in contemporary megacities?

Keywords:
Consumption; Cities; Nihilism

Departamento de Sociologia da Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 315, 05508-010, São Paulo - SP, Brasil - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: temposoc@edu.usp.br