Abstract

The name of Tommaso Labranca (1962-2016) is not particularly familiar to the Italian public. One cannot easily find his books in bookshops and libraries, and his name is not often heard in the current cultural debate. Still, Labranca has been one of the most acute and original Italian intellectuals of the last quarter of a century. This article deals with his works, focusing on the way in which Labranca tackled the problem of modernization, both in the field of commodities (money, consumption, ways of life) and in the field of imaginary (communication, popular arts).