Society Of The Spectacle | Guy Debord
Modernity and Post-Modernity | Reading Report
By Maeve Lejeune

Guy Debord’s book Society Of The Spectacle, published in 1967, explores the social control that capitalism and the media has on society (Jenkins, 2013). Debord was a French Marxist theorist (The European Graduate School, nd) who observed how society was affected by the decisions made by people in powerful positions. During Debord’s life and writing, social upheaval was deeply prevalent in the world. He wrote Society Of The Spectacle after WWII, the death of Adolf Hitler, and in the midst of the Cold War and Vietnam War. The book, Society Of The Spectacle, discusses modernity and post-modernity by identifying key influences that shape society and the way that people consume products and interact with each other. This report will discuss the book by highlighting the dominant themes of Capitalism, mass-production and consumption, and the influence of the media on society. The report will also use examples from the Holocaust to compare and contrast with the theories of modernity discussed in the Society Of The Spectacle.

Society Of The Spectacle demonstrates Debord’s understanding of the divisions between classes and discusses the downfalls of Capitalism. Throughout the 221 theses, which make up the book, Debord suggests that the relationship people have with the world is not necessarily with the ‘real’ world. Society’s relationship with the world is based on the values and beliefs that are projected as images. These images have been created and shaped and are therefore new concepts, which have been created by man and are removed from the natural world. The advertising of products and brands is done through the use of images. “The personalities of the people who surround us, debord believes, are not their own, but are acquired through images made by pop culture, which replace whatever the person might have become free from these mediated images.” (J from NY, 2002) These images are then associated with the products and brands, as well as the idea that is promoted; this idea refers to a certain personality or look, according to the advertisement, that can only be achieved with the purchase of material objects. “The idea of society as a spectacle offers a salient, potentially illuminating description of our increasingly commodity-saturated, mass-mediated, image-dominated and corporate-constructed world with all its blatant irrationalities.” (Kaplan, 2012) A visual language is created by these images. The language used by advertisers is engaging and seems realistic of society. This is how the spectacle is created. Reality is expressed through the spectacle, the spectacle being a set of images and societal norms that govern society.

The basic human needs are simple: food, water and shelter. Extra commodities have been created and appear to us as needs. This has been achieved through manipulation, even though they are just pseudo-needs that don’t really fulfil lives. “When economic necessity for boundless economic development, the satisfaction of primary human needs is replaced by an uninterrupted fabrication of pseudo-needs which are reduced to the single pseudo-need of maintaining the reign of the autonomous economy. The autonomous economy permanently breaks away from fundamental need to the extent that it emerges from the social unconscious which unknowingly depended on it.” (Thesis 51)(Debord, 1967)
The economy needs “our alienation and commodification to do its dirty work, it has a weak spot for it, and when we take real and direct steps to end the alienation and resist commodification then we are actually attacking the economy” (Anarchy, 2008) Social life has been transformed by manufactured pseudo-needs that have been created by the capitalist society that we inhabit. “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.” (Thesis 1) (Debord, 1967) Society’s consumption of goods is what encourages manufacturers to continue creating and producing products. Society embraces these goods because they think it will help them become more like the desired image –of wealth, success, and popularity– that has been created by advertisers.

The development in technology and mechanisation that ensued from the Industrial Revolution meant that mass-production was a much faster process. There were “advances in agricultural techniques and practices”, which “resulted in an increased supply of food and raw materials, changes in industrial organization and new technology resulted in increased production, efficiency and profits, and the increase in commerce, foreign and domestic.” (Montagna, 2013). After the Industrial Revolution, products were made more easily. The relationship between mass-production and profit potential led to a quick paced market of manufactured goods. In a society that cannot keep up with the ongoing change of trends, things are forgotten as quickly as they are bought. The relationship people have with the world and their need for material things is striking because the connection is detached from the natural environment. It appears that the things constantly being brought into existence are based on our values, but are they necessarily right? (Fry, 2013).

The concept of consumerism in Society Of The Spectacle implies that people don’t think about what they’re producing or consuming and how this consumption can harm the natural environment. Money is seen to be the main focus, as opposed to sustainability. Debord draws attention to the individual’s ability to question the world they live in, their leaders and the images from the media that they are flooded with daily. He highlights the importance of questioning the world around us –an opportunity that is rarely taken. Society is portrayed as following either the leader or the rest of society. It is unclear whether this is due to the laziness or contentment of a society, or whether they are unaware of the negative effects of technology, machines and production, or are in fear of alienation. The concept of not challenging the norm, as well as being naïve, can be compared to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. “The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2012)Through use of propaganda and planned activities The Nazis were able to, in a sense, brainwash their society. Today, in our modern society, based on our values, we view Death and Concentration camps to be absolutely horrific but for Germany, at the time, it was normal. The torture of Jews was normalised and accepted because they were the values that the government created. They projected and spread these values with the use of images in the media. In today’s society the Holocaust is looked at it in disgust and wonder at how any individual could be so inhumane and cruel, let alone a whole country. We must understand that these values were driven into the society either from birth or in their adult years. They were surrounded by propaganda in the forms of speeches and material objects and so it consumed their lives. This can be paralleled to the images publicised in our society and how they influence our lives. Debord highlights this, suggesting that because it is the only thing we know, we think it must be right. The people of Germany knew no different and even if they did, they were not in any position to act on it. “From the earliest years of the Nazi regime, German authorities persecuted homosexuals and others whose behavior did not match prescribed social norms.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2012) The ‘others’ in this quote also refers to those that did not believe in the ideals of The Nazis. These people could not speak out for fear of them or their families being harmed. They did not have the power to challenge the government and forced to go along with it. In Debord’s society as well as in the current, an individual does not have much power in the scheme of things. They may choose to act out but they are likely to experience some kind of alienation.

Society Of The Spectacle by Guy Debord serves as an indication of a society that revolves around and is consumed by capitalism, mass-production and the media. He develops concerns about the planet and society by highlighting how much manufactured goods affect our lives and the way we live and react to the world. Machinery has the ability to produce things more quickly and to reach a broader range of people but that does not mean we should produce as many things as possible. We should certainly not do this before considering possible consequences and impacts on both the environment and on society. By drawing attention to the materialistic nature of society, Debord warns against becoming obsessed with making a profit or of idealising a certain persona, which can only be achieved by the consumption of goods. Debord wants society to be aware of the decisions made by governments and those in power so that they are able to question them if required. This is so Industrialism, Colonialism and Capitalism do not get out of hand as technology and machines continue to develop.

Bibliography
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Fry, T. (2013). Modernity and Post-Modernity Lecture.
J from NY. (2002, March 4). Society of the Spectacle [paperback]. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0934868077?tag=politicsbookmix-20
Jenkins, M. (Composer). (2013). Politics Book Review: Society of the Spectacle by Guy DEBORD, Martin Jenkins. [M. Jenkins, Performer, & P. B. Mix, Conductor] United States.
Kaplan, R. (2012). Between mass society andrevolutionary praxis: Thecontradictions of GuyDebord’s Society of theSpectacle. European Journal of Cultural Studies , 457-471.
Montagna, J. A. (2013). The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved 2013, from Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html
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