Society of the Spectacle

Possibly the most important book of the 20th century. Cool edition. I love guy debord

This is an attractively presented edition of Debord's excellent neo-Marxian critique of capitalism, including an interesting new introduction. Two elements of Debord's brief masterpiece stood out, to me at least, as particularly relevant in the contemporary context: (1) His warning (in 1968) that the rise of the service sector in the West and the shift of manufacturing to the East did not signal the emergence of a classless society, but rather the penetration of 'factory-like' working conditions into the new 'white collar' jobs being created and, ultimately, the intensification, rather than the resolution, of class antagonisms and exploitation. The global financial crisis (and specifically the implications of the various 'austerity measures' for 'ordinary' working people), along with the 'Occupy' protests ('the 99%' versus 'the 1%' etc) would seem to bear this argument out. (2) The idea of the spectacle as 'a social relation between people that is mediated by images' has never been more relevant than in the age of Facebook, iPads and 24-hour rolling news - from 9/11 to the 'Arab Spring', the twenty-first century has proven that the society of the spectacle is still very much alive today. A book well-worth reading.

Arrived promptly and well packaged by the seller.

This book genuinely changed my outlook. The concept of The Spectacle is never more relevant into today’s e-commerce, image-obsessed world, yet this French situationist intellectual spotted it, and set out a warning here. His work is Marxist (which might put many off right away) but he avoids paranoid conspiracy theory, seeing the Spectacle not imposed on us by the gilded elite, but as something we are all complicit in, something we have willingly accepted into our lives. The book says as much as our psychology as humans as it says about the western cultures we are born into. As one watches younger generations display their all-important images to the world, and many people are barely able to tear their eyes from a device, Msr. Debord’s warning reads as prescient, we can see the evidence for ourselves in our daily lives. Despite the greatness of the ideas within this book, and the value I gained from studying it, I give 4 stars rather than 5. This is becuase it is difficult to parse without very close reading and some knowledge of the subject matter before tackling it. It was easier for me to read than translations of Jacques Lacan’s lectures, because it is much briefer and divided into small chapters which at least encourage careful reflection and digestion before moving on. My summary cannot do the original justice but I offer a kernel which might help the reader unravel the text. Modern media bombard you with messages which suggest you are missing something. Do you hate your children? Then why not buy extra Christmas presents? Why aren’t you working for a larger house with a garden? Why don’t you have life insurance: what horrors would happen to your kids if you were to be accidentally killed? If you’re hungry, eat a burger. If you’re thirsty, drink coke. If you feel nauseous, you need pepto-bismol, if you’re not sleeping, you need this pill, if you’re exhausted by it all, buy a holiday. In all these cases, there is always a solution ready to be sold: these anxieties are driven by commerce. The combined effect of all these messages from adverts, news, films is to generate an image within us, of the ‘happy’ person we ought to be, the person who would be happy if he just had x, y and z. The problem of course is that none of the solutions sold to us do actually make us happier, so we are left chasing one solution after another, increasingly alienated by the whole charade. The Spectacle could be called the ‘market-sphere’ - everything out there which convinces us we are incomplete and need product x or lifestyle y. We are all part of it, seduced by the whispered false promises and the lure of modern-day snake-oils. Like Marx’s workers becoming alienated becuase they will never afford the cars they produce or houses they build, Debord’s consumers are alienated because they can never become the perfect humans presented endlessly in adverts, films and tv.

I first came across this text during my academic studies, loved it so much that I decided to buy it. Debord's analysis of an artificial society consistent of a complex array of tailored experiences for the individual is a remarkable insight to capitalism, and is really insightful for anyone studying social sciences. Really encourages critical thinking and provokes the questioning of life in general.

I love this book, I read it in the 80's but I was amazed how relevant to today it is.

All good thanks. Delivered really quickly!

A book about glasses ? Really ?!?

This edition features its most iconic cover; even though for new readers I would recommend Ken Knabb's translation, easier to read and including the original annotations.

I purchased this book and within 2 days began questioning my ethical standards re online shopping

Debord’s Society of the Spectacle (1967) is a prescient indictment of modern capitalism’s structural framework expressed as a ‘spectacle.’ Most people who read Society of the Spectacle confuse it with a critique of ‘mass media.’ They accept it on its face and ascribe a literalism to Debord which is not there: namely, that Debord critiques society’s obsession with ‘mass media.’ Although he does include mass media in his critique, it is merely a feature and outgrowth of the overall spectacle. In Chapter I:24, Debord writes of ‘mass media’ as the spectacle’s “most glaring superficial manifestation” that “seems to invade society as mere equipment…” One must read Debord’s subsequent work Comments on the Society of the Spectacle (1988) to learn of Debord’s nuanced distinction. Therein, Debord writes, “[r]ather than talk of the spectacle, people often prefer to use the term ‘media,’ and by this they mean to describe a mere instrument, a kind of public service.” The idea of ‘media’ as itself a mode of influence is more thoroughly explored by Marshall McLuhan, who in the same year of ‘Society of the Spectacle’ in 1967 wrote ‘The Medium is the Message’ which expands on his earlier work 'Understanding Media' (1964). Therein he describes how different media/medium embeds itself into the message it transmits, which thereby influences how the message is delivered and ultimately received by individuals. But, the ‘spectacle’ is much more than just media. The ‘spectacle’ that Debord is concerned with is based on capitalism’s all-encompassing ability to metabolize, overtake, and absorb every facet of life it contacts, including individuals. It thereby transforms the individual into an alienated passive spectator who watches the flow of life reduced to the movement of commodities, and a reification of life events in general. The ‘spectacle’ is thus the dominant regime which shapes and directs the ‘lived time’ of individuals, who become fetishistically ensnared within the daily struggle of commodified relations and things. It is captured by the opening line: “In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.” This book not only denotes, describes and distills capitalism’s immense spread into every sinew of reality through the spectacle, but it also describes the spectacle’s tentacles spread to the present post-internet age embodied by so-called ‘social media.’ Debord foreshadows this when he writes that “the spectacle is not a collection of images, but a social relation among people, mediated by images.” Thus, Debord’s point is that as individuals we have been captured by capitalism’s method of operations embodied in the spectacle. The ‘spectacle’ in turn alters and transforms our relationships both with ourselves and others. Thus, we succumb to the influence of living mediated lives – mediated by technology, consumer goods, financialization, entertainment, etc. Our reality is thus interpreted for us and neatly presented in curated commodified narratives. Debord was no doubt influenced by Hegel, Marx and Lukacs. However, he attempted to transcend Hegel and Marx in that for Debord, both Hegel and Marx attribute history’s march to forces other than human agency – Spirit for Hegel and economy for Marx. For Debord, although the individual is captured by time, the individual is nonetheless capable of acting and shaping history through social actions within time. Ultimately, Debord’s work provides a slim sliver of hope. In light of Marcuse’s One Dimensional Man (1964), one can argue that radical/revolutionary critique was pacified and all opposition subdued by the material comforts which capitalism’s ‘spectacle’ offered. Thus, any attempt to critique, rebel or resist the march of post-capitalism’s desire was rendered impotent and absorbed within the spectacle. This is both an easy yet hard read in that some of the writing needs to be re-read by the reader to understand the meaning behind the text. Moreover, one needs to read this book in the context of the time – and Debord’s involvement with the Situationist International. Additionally, one should read Debord’s subsequent Comments on the Society of the Spectacle, as both inform each other for a more holistic understanding. Ultimately, this is a must read for anyone who seeks to question the received reality we are presented with and approach life critically.

This book is unique of its kind because of its subject. Author is knowledgeable and prolific writer famous for his intrigued thoughtfulness.

Buen libro, pero mala calidad de material por lo que pague. No estoy completamente satisfecho.