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Toward a Morality of Materiality

Adorno and the Primacy of the Object

University of California, Los Angeles

The growing interest in materiality in cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, and geography, sometimes referred to as "new materialism," seems to have left little room for normative questions and concerns. Although such research has explored the role of materiality in normative projects, attention to the normative quality of the material itself is lacking. This article argues that Adorno's theory of the primacy of the object provides materiality research with a theoretical foundation for exploring the normative power of the material object itself. By incorporating the theory of the primacy of the object with the theoretical insights of new materialism, this article will demonstrate not only how Adorno's theory can benefit current research on materiality but also how this research expands the way Adorno's supposedly elitist theories can be applied.

Key Words: materiality • Adorno • dialectics • objects • normativity

This version was published on November 1, 2008

Space and Culture, Vol. 11, No. 4, 409-421 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1206331208314616


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