Riesgos, tótems y fetiches en Marx y Freud

Abstract

This article examines the concept of risk as a narrative and economic construction through a theoretical dialogue between Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud, linking the notions of fetishism and totemism to the dynamics of contemporary capitalism. The authors argue that risk should not be understood as an objective probability of harm, but rather as a social discourse designed to shape human behavior, regulate the circulation of goods, and consolidate power hierarchies. From a Marxist perspective, commodity fetishism conceals social relations of production and naturalizes the subordination of labor to capital; from Freud’s viewpoint, fetishes and totems function as symbolic devices that manage anxiety and preserve social order. By integrating both traditions, the article shows how risk operates as a disciplinary mechanism that protects scarce resources, restricts certain practices, and promotes others. Through examples such as terrorism, urban crime, the automobile industry, and ecological discourse, the authors argue that the economy of risk reinforces the concentration of power in economic and political elites while encouraging the masses to accept their own subordination. The article concludes that risk functions as a modern fetish that legitimizes the status quo, reproduces alienation, and strengthens the structures of domination characteristic of late capitalism.