-
body; cultural industry; education.
Society is constantly transforming, which affects the elements that compose it, leading to adaptations and/or re-significations. In the work Dialectic of Enlightenment (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1947), where the term cultural industry (CI) was coined, the main media were printed newspapers, radio, and magazines, while television was still in its early stages. This scenario, according to the CI, promoted the homogenization of culture in order to massify and direct patterns of consumption and behavior, generating secondary needs met by capital. With the strengthening of television from the 1950s in developed countries (and the 1970s in Brazil), along with the creation of the internet and the popularization of online social networks from the 2000s onward, capital shifted toward the technological sector. Thus emerged the global cultural industry (GCI) at the beginning of the 21st century, especially targeting young audiences, with a more seductive approach appealing to emotional desires—within a capitalism increasingly engaged with networks— particularly concerning the body, once seen as a commodity in its labor power, now as a virtual commodity. In this context, the general objective of this thesis is to discuss the diachrony of the cultural industry in its relationship with social networks and the body. Specifically, it aims to address the Marxist concepts of labor, production, commodity, and consumption, relating them to the understanding of the body within dialectical historical materialism; to relate the creation of the internet—especially social networks—to the globalized cultural industry; and to present the effects of the relationship among cultural industry, social networks, and the body in education, based on Brazilian dissertations and theses that address this theme. As for methodology, we adopted a qualitative research approach, using the state of the question (SQ) as the research type and the dialectical historical materialism method. The corpus consists of dissertations and theses that address the themes of the body, cultural industry, and education in the time period of 01/01/2000 - 01/01/2024. We identified that the CI/GCI, linked to social networks, becomes an authority through the influence of people, products, and programs that legitimize trends affecting and directing individuals according to the interests of capital. We highlight the fundamental role of combating halbbildung so that this cycle does not repeat itself.