Estetisering

Estetisering (aestheticization) is the process by which a phenomenon is rendered, presented, or experienced primarily through aesthetic categories and sensibilities. The term is used in multiple languages, notably Danish, Norwegian, Dutch and Swedish, and is often rendered in English as aestheticization or esthetization. It describes how social life, politics, economy, or public space is reframed as objects of taste, beauty, or visual display, rather than simply as functional or informative phenomena.

In analysis within sociology, cultural studies, and design studies, estetisering denotes a shift whereby events, practices, or issues are produced for, and consumed as, visual or sensory experiences. This can involve the use of design aesthetics, spectacle, branding, and media formatting to shape perception, affect, and engagement. Examples include the branding of cities as photogenic places, the choreographed presentation of political campaigns as spectacles, or the commodification of everyday life in consumer culture.

Critics argue that aestheticization can enhance accessibility and emotional resonance, but may also obscure deeper power dynamics, reduce complex issues to appearances, and reinforce consumerist norms. The concept is often paired with discussions of the aestheticization of politics, media spectacle, and urban development, and is related to broader debates about image politics, the culture industry, and the politics of taste.

See also: aestheticization of politics, spectacle, commodification, culture industry, urban branding.