“Capitalism as religion”

Analysis of an Enigmatic Fragment by Walter Benjamin

Abstract

This research analyzes the fragment Capitalism as a religion, written by Walter Benjamin in 1921, but only discovered in 1985. It is investigated from the context of its formation, which would be a greater work on politics, up to making exegetical comments on its content, from the tracks left by Benjamin, such as the indication of capitalism as a “religious phenomenon”, “priests of the capitalist religion”, “fault/debt”, the “house of despair” and the “network”. As indicated throughout the text, the research of Uwe Steiner, one of the main interpreters - and practically unknown in Brazil - is privileged, without neglecting other references, such as Michael Löwy and Werner Hamacher. This article is the partial result of the first chapter of an ongoing master's research in philosophy.