The extraordinary new conditions in which this entire generation has lived constitute a comprehensive summary of all that, henceforth, the spectacle will forbid and also all that it will permit. The book is considered a seminal text for the Situationist movement. Quite simply, the spectacle’s domination has succeeded in raising a whole generation moulded to its laws. The Society of the Spectacle ( French: La socit du spectacle) is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. “In all that has happened in the last twenty years, the most important change lies in the very continuity of the spectacle. 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.
From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s 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. The Society of the Spectacle (French: La socit du spectacle) is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. With the caveat that everyone's tastes are different and one person's great writing is another person's flowery nonsense, but I'd recommend at least trying that one if you haven't already.Ĭontributions to The Revolutionary Struggle, Intended To Be Discussed, Corrected, And Principally, Put Into Practice Without Delay and Instructions for an Insurrection are two other short ones that stick in my head.Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle. Revolution of Daily Life is a whole lot longer than SotS, much more of a proper book, but on the other hand I think Vaneigem's writing style is a whole lot easier and more fun than Debord's. Spectacular Times would probably be my #1 recommendation for a nice, short, very readable introduction to situationist perspectives. Other suggestions for possibly easier starting points for getting to grips with the sits: An essential text, and the main theoretical work of the situationists.
I'd say it's a brilliant updating of revolutionary theory to the conditions of mid-20th capitalism, but of course not all of that is going to be relevant today. Buy a cheap copy of The Society of the Spectacle book by Guy Debord. The suggestion about starting off with Chapter 4 is a good one.
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