Izrādes sabiedrība

"Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the present, the volatile theses of this book have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity, capitalism and everyday life in the late twentieth century. Now finally available in a superb English translation approved by the author, Debord's text remains as crucial as ever for understanding the contemporary effects of power, which are increasingly inseparable from the new virtual worlds of our rapidly changing image/information culture."--Jacket.

Media reviews

M & C Books

Here on terra firma, on the brink of our brave new nirvana six years later, Debord's integrated spectacle — the techno-media juggernaut — looms larger than life. Just prior to his death, the 62-year-old who drank too much and wrote too little had wryly observed, in the "Preface to the Third

French Edition" of his uncannily prescient text, that the "same formidable question that has been haunting the world for two centuries is about to be posed again, everywhere: How can the poor be made to work once their illusions have been shattered and once force has been defeated?"

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User reviews

LibraryThing member miquixote

Most are well-aware of Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman and the Propaganda Model presented in Manufacturing Consent, of how the media is pure propaganda. But the idea of 'spectacle' being something part of our daily lives, not just in the media, of our consumer society as one of consuming spectacles

virtually everywhere, is under-studied, under-talked about and more relevant than ever. Guy Debord relates it all to technology, without bowing to a weak primitivist stance. He helps us realize that technology controls virtually everything now. He was prescient. Think mobile phones, internet, Blackberries, Facebook, Twitter, clictivism, Google, if you still that it's far-fetched.

The intellectual technologies and practices Google has pioneered promote the speedy, superficial skimming of information and discourage any deep, prolonged engagement with a single argument, idea, or narrative. ‘Our Goal,’ says Irene Au, ‘it to get users in and out really quickly. All our design decisions are based on that strategy.’ Google’s profits are tied directly to the velocity of people’s information intake. The faster we surf across the surface of the Web - the more links we click and pages we view - the more opportunities Google gains to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements. It’s advertising system, moreover, is explicitly designed to figure out which messages are most likely to grab our attention and then to place those messages in our field of view. Every click we make on the Web marks a break in our concentration, a bottom-up disruption of our attention - and it’s in Google’s economic interest to make sure we click as often as possible.”

In layman's terms, A.D.D. is rampant. We need to be concerned, we need to reclaim the cyber commons and we need to read, slowly, and surely. This book is important in its understanding of how technology/spectacle when controlled by capital alienates, marginalizes, dissipates commonality, community. Google or capitalism does not intend to empower the individual with technology, they intened to make money. A consumer-oriented, historically amnesiac, attention deficit, and mobility addicted society of a never-ending cycle of spectacle is what they need.

This kind of book is what I think we need.

Pure genius.

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LibraryThing member jcook818

While I wouldn’t exactly describe this book as having the force of a “Das Kapital of the 20th century” [like the cover notes indicate], Society of the Spectacle is surely an important work in the field of modern cultural critique. Originally written in France in 1967 by Guy Debord, an

influential member of the Situationists movement, the book’s concepts are still as relevant as ever, as it is with many books that relate to topics of modern capitalism and consumerist “programming.” It starts with a basic outline of the definition of the “spectacle,” which is simply the idea that our conception of legitimate fulfillment (and participation) in our society has shifted to a purely superficial level. The capitalist forces of advertising, marketing, and public relations have transformed the utility of consumption into the “spectacle” of consumption, which drives us to consume and participate in this spectacle in ever intensive ways. The mere idea of consumption has replaced our conceptions of what self-fulfillment should be, and our internal worth is often measured on the “model of life” as reinforced through the capitalist order, to what Debord argues is a quasi-religious degree of reverence. Furthermore, this order is reinforced by our desire to appear “well-connected” with our selection of expensive gadgets, for example, or with our taste for specific stylish clothing brands, projecting our image which is alienated from our specific realities. This is all aided by our “separation” from the physical world of the products we produce, with the separation between worker and product playing an important role in how we feel about commodities in general. All of this results in a general degradation in our quality of life, to say the least. The book also goes on to discuss how our conception of time has changed with the advent of our participation in capitalist production, a section on class struggles against the spectacle, as well as a compelling critique of modern revolutionary ideologies and ideas.

My short summary certainly does not do the entire idea justice, of course. Debord’s profound analysis of the intersection between social phenomena and capitalist consumerism is only the tip of the iceberg. As the book is organized into small passages within larger chapters, many of these verses leap off the page as noteworthy and prescient bits of brilliance. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in consumerism, class struggles, and the state of the modern consciousness.

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LibraryThing member Mducman

After years of reading references to it, finally made my way through The Society of the Spectacle. The text is full of gems and retains its relevance, perhaps even more so in our hyper-mediated present. When writing of the Spectacle and the Commodity, Debord is as intellectually stimulating as

McLuhan. However, there were a couple chapters in Society that delved deeply into Marxist theory to a degree that the casual reader (or myself for that matter) may find it difficult to follow. Despite this, worth the read.

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LibraryThing member sherief

Recently reread this old Situationist classic, this time after a few years of experience in trying to disentangle what obtuse French authors say when they write. Also, attempted to read the book from an urbanistic perspective, reading it alongside the short "Introduction to a Critique of Urban

Geography." Although Debord's concerns for the city and city spaces may have been more influenced by the huge explosions of suburbia and auto-dependency of the 60s than other contemporary urban issues, there are some really excellent points to pull away.

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LibraryThing member sunjata

This book is sporadically very interesting as it deals with one of Marx's most useful ideas - the alienation of labour - in the context of late capitalism. However, the 'spectacle' that is at the heart of this alienation is never convincingly defined, nor discussed in anything but vague

generalities. The language is frequently incomprehensible, deliberately so, I expect, to cover up the underdeveloped and infrequent ideas.There is also a real and very teenage contempt for life, and by extension people, in the modern world.

As a book it is also very odd, containing lengthy digressions on history (agrarian societies have no history!) and Marxist tittle-tattle, but not explaining what a détournement is, except to say how revolutionary they are.

In summary, I call bullshit on this one.

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LibraryThing member experimentalis

yes, it's still relevant

LibraryThing member albertgoldfain

Read along with this selection for the Partially Examined Life podcast. Debrod is clever, complex and, ultimately overly-pessimistic. Although in the leftist/Marxist mold, this particular work deserves a close reading for the degree of insight and nuance in the concepts developed. Amazing that the

current 'spectacle', largely manifested in social media these days, came half a century after this book was written.

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LibraryThing member SGTCat

Very very dense, but very much worth the time it took to dig through it.

LibraryThing member JeremyBrashaw

Nice snow day read.

LibraryThing member RajivC

Guy Debord wrote/published this book in 1967. The book is tough to read, and some passages may seem opaque. You may need familiarity with Marxian philosophy to appreciate one chapter.

However, his analysis of society and history is frightening and relevant. The analysis becomes more relevant by the

day.

Definitely, buy the book and read it.

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