Simply explained, culture
industry is a term used by social thinkers Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer to describe how popular culture in
the capitalist society functions like an industry in producing standardized
products which produce standardized people.
A more advanced
definition of culture industry draws on the seeming contradiction
between human culture and mechanical industry. This is exactly Adorno and
Horkheimer's point in "Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception" (which is a chapter inside "Dialectic of Enlightenment"). They argue that culture industry is associated with late
capitalism in which all forms of culture (from literature, through films and
all the way to elevator music) become part of the capitalist system of production which also has deep cultural mechanisms and not just economical ones. According
to Adorno and Horkheimer these cultural products are not only meant for profit
(appealing to the lowest common denominator) but also produce consumers that
are adapted to the needs of the capitalist system.
Examples of Culture Industry
A simplified example
which can help explain culture industry is TV lifestyles. Ever noticed how characters
on TV shows you watch usually have great homes and nice cloths (except in the
case in which the character is poor)? According to Adorno and Horkheimer this
is not a coincidence since it's not only nice to watch good looking people
leading a good looking life, these shows also send a consumerist message about
how good lives should look, prompting people to adopt a certain version of the
American Dream.
The concept of culture
industry become widely held in sociology, media studies and critical theory and
it remains functional till this days in describing how mass culture and big business
are inherently bound together to make up a large scale system of control and
exploitation. Some years after "Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass
Deception" Adorno wrote another article titled "Culture Industry Reconsidered" (see link for a summary), elaborating on the ideas and definitions of his initial
essay with Horkheimer.
See also: One Dimensional man / Herbert Marcuse
