Il potere della luce. La lampada e le forme microsociologiche del dominio

This article explores the sociological significance of everyday objects through a microsociological analysis of the lamp. While traditional sociology has often neglected material culture, dismissing objects as mere fetishes of mass society, this study reclaims their active role in shaping social life. Drawing on Simmel's notion of culture and style, as well as theories by Gehlen, Simondon, Baudrillard, and Latour, the lamp is examined not only as a technical device but as a symbolic and aesthetic mediator of social relations. Focusing on the domestic sphere, the analysis traces how lighting structures interaction, produces atmospheres, and participates in the microphysics of power. Particular attention is given to the lampshade as a device of modulation—both functional and ornamental—that configures proximity, visibility, and distinction. Ultimately, the lamp emerges as an infrastructure of experience that shapes the social through light, material presence, and symbolic excess.