Society of the Spectacle: WTF? Guy Debord, Situationism and the Spectacle Explained |

 Tom Nicholas

Tom Nichola

Need The Society of the Spectacle explained? Well, in this episode of What the Theory?, we’re doing just that. The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (a key member of the Situationist International) argues that contemporary capitalist society has become obsessed with images and appearances over all else. Debord argues that “the spectacle” has invaded our everyday lives not just in the form of image-based advertising but also in the way that we interact with one another. In this Society of the Spectacle summary video, I provide a brief introduction to Debord’s concept of the spectacle, taking a brief look at the context in which the book was written (including both situationism and the May ’68 Paris uprisings) and unpacking the key arguments included within. Further Reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO​ UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP​ Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i​ UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx​ The Gulf War Did Note Take Placeby Jean Baudrillard US: https://amzn.to/2HaOGyi​ UK: https://amzn.to/2NAGjNA​ [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Bibliography Debord, Guy (2004 [1967]) The Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press. Available online: http://rebels-library.org/files/socie...​ Debord, Guy (1988) Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Malcom Imrie. [Online] https://libcom.org/files/Comments%20o...​ [5 February 2019]. Marx, Karl (1867) ‘Chapter One: Commodities’. in Capital: Volume One. [Online] https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx...​ [5 February 2019] The Editors of Encyclopedia Britainnica (2019) ‘Situationist International’. Encyclopedia Britannica. [Online] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Situ...

Society of the Spectacle (Part 2): WTF? Recuperation and Capitalist Realism | Tom Nicholas

Tom Nicholas

In my previous video on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, I focussed on creating a summary of the Society of the Spectacle, explained in a fairly general sense, particularly placing within the context of the Situationist International, May 1968 and Debord's wider work on situationism. In today's follow-up, I focus on a specific aspect of Debord's concept of the Spectacle: récupération (sometimes translated into English as recuperation and sometimes as cooption) with reference to "simulacra" as defined by Jean Baudrillard and "capitalist realism" as defined by Mark Fisher and explored through Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits and the Alfonso Cuarón film Children of Men. In particular, I discuss the manner in which Debord suggests the Spectacle interacts with radical or subversive ideas and movements and how the Spectacle might work to protect late stage capitalism from critique. As I mention in the video, if you'd like to download a free copy of the script for today's video complete with references and footnotes, you can do so for free over on my Patreon page (and, while you're there, I would really appreciate you considering supporting my work): https://www.patreon.com/tomnicholas​ Further Reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2BWg9jO​ UK: https://amzn.to/2SBnzOP​ Comments on the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord US: https://amzn.to/2IJvt9i​ UK: https://amzn.to/2NJJvqx​ Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher US: https://amzn.to/2HkwEt2​ UK: https://amzn.to/2Jm1jIR​ [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] Bibliography Jean Baudrillard. "Simulacra and Simulations." Translated by Paul Foss, Paul Patton and Philip Beitchman. In Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings, edited by Mark Poster, 169-87. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. Bernie 2016, "America | Bernie Sanders." 2016, accessed 14 May, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwRi...​. Cuarón, Alfonso. "Children of Men." 1:49​Universal Studios, 3 September 2006. Guy Debord. Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. London: Verso, 1998. 1988. ———. "Report on the Construction of Situations and on the International Situationist Tendency’s Conditions of Organisation and Action." Edited and Translated by Ken Knabb. In Situationist International Anthology, 25- 43. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006. ———. Society of the Spectacle. Translated by Ken Knabb. London: Rebel Press, 2005. 1967. Mark Fisher. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Alresford: Zero Books, 2009. "M&S Launch Lgbt Sandwich and It’s Dividing Opinion." Pink News, 2019, accessed 13 May , 2019, https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/02...​ sandwich-dividing-opinion. Ken Knabb. "Notes." In Situationist International Anthology, edited by Ken Knabb, 479-92. Berkeley: Bureau of Public Secrets, 2006. 17 Guy Debord, Comments on the Society of the Spectacle (London: Verso, 1998), 19. Horacio N. Roque Ramírez. "Gay Latino Cultural Citizenship: Predicaments of Identity and Visibility in San Francisco in the 1990s." In Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Michael Hames-García and Ernesto Javier Martínez, 175-97. London: Duke University Press, 2011. Charlie Brooker and Konnie Huq. Black Mirror, Season 1, episode 2, "Fifteen Million Merits." Aired 11 December 2011, 2011, on Channel 4. If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as PhD vlogs in which I talk about some of the challenges of being a PhD student then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com