The Society of the Spectacle is a philosophy book authored by Guy Debord. The book contains as many as two hundred and twenty one theses divided over nine paragraphs. The Society of the Spectacle is defined by the many theses that the author espoused throughout the book. For instance, the changing relationship between mediated representation and direct experience in modern times sets the context for the first thesis. The author asserts all things that were directly lived previously have been turned into mere representations.
This thesis shows the negative attitude and the crucial stance he held towards the developments that had taken shape in the modern society. For the author, these developments represented the separation of human beings, individualization and reinforcement of societal exploitation under by the high class under the ideals of advanced capitalism. As a result of this, the common characteristic for all the societies where modern protocols of production apply is the massive accumulation of spectacles (Debord 26).
While this is true in the literal sense, it also edifies the reign of the capitalist ideals where the wealth of societies is represented in a massive accumulation of commodities, testament to the prevailing capitalist production. In the eyes of the author, the degradation of the society that is caused by advanced capitalism has turned being into having and having into appearing. Additionally, advance capitalism has commoditized appearance and this he argues is the root of every evil. At this point the complete colonization of social life is achieved.
Additionally, through the act of displaying life, the spectacle of the society negates the two representations of life by reducing their worth to mere appearances. As such, the capacity for domination by the spectacle is its self-containment. Therefore, the basic tautological character that embodies the spectacle emanates from the simple fact it ascribes to the philosophy of its means doubling up as the ends. This thesis illustrates the infiltration of advanced capitalist ideals into the society and the effect this has had on the value of life. The models of life that previously existed have been replaced by superficial models that align to advanced capitalist ideals.
A third thesis as illustrated in the book is that the spectacle is a medium for separation and the subsequent creation of a lonely crowd. The loneliness emanates from a loss of unity among people and various entities in the world. The author deduces that separation is a mechanism for exploitation. This is because a part of the world represents the spectacle to the world and the superiority it commands. The author reckons that the force that binds the spectators is only the irreversible relation that exists at the center. The same force that unites the spectators together is the same force that maintains their isolation. This implies that the spectacle, the ideals of advanced capitalism reunites the separate, although it reunites them as separate (Debord 12).
In the contemporary society, capitalist economies have different social classes. These classes are separated by economic endowment amongst other factors. The poor are separated from the rich by the gap of income. While this separation remains, the poor are united by their plight and the rich are united by their economic prowess. This situation is embedded in the society with attempts to understand it proving futile. With people consciously attempting to understand themselves through the presentations, they actually lose every hope of unitarily and coherently living their own lives. More precisely, the more an individual accepts to recognizing himself as presented in the overriding images of need the less the individual understands his own desires and his own existence.
Conceptions of Power
Foucault has been very influential in shaping the conceptions of power. According to Foucault, power is not centralized in one place. In his conception, power is everywhere. It is embodied and diffused in regimes if truth, knowledge and discourse. For this postmodernist, power is responsible for who we are. This is quite different from other theories that attempt to explain the concept of power. Unlike the political theory of power, Foucault challenges the central idea that power acquired by groups of people or individuals through sovereign or episodic acts of dominion, coercion. Instead, Foucault sees power as persuasive and dispersed. In his conception, power is neither a structure nor an agency because power is everywhere, and as such it comes from everywhere. This is contrary to the conception of power as seen by political theorists. These theorists see power as based on economic, ideological ideals held by military and political institutions (Bacon 31).
Power in the political sense involves making an individual or groups of people do what they would otherwise not do. It has elements of coercion aimed at ensuring that the will of political institutions and agencies is carried out by all. Unlike this conception, Foucault reckons that the true meaning of power pervades the society. Power should embody accepted forms of scientific understanding, knowledge and truth. The panoptic gaze as referred to by Foucault in the Eye of Power is a disciplinary power that makes subjects to supervise their behavior and thoughts. In this manner, Foucault sees power as a ‘panopticon’ that inherently influence the principles of a society. However, he reckons that this form of power has failed in its objective. He illustrates this with the failure of prisons to not only reform the criminals in it but also prevent non-offenders from a life of crime (Foucault & Colin 82).
Social and Political Problems
Guy Debord presents excerpts that can be applied to our contemporary society to analyze certain aspects of our lives. Globalization has seeped into every aspect of our lives. It has been argued that globalization has resulted in the integration of our lives, making the world one global village. However, applying the thesis of the spectacle as a mechanism for isolation, one gets a completely different conception. As a result of globalization, it is arguable that the society has not developed since the renaissance. It is only the technological realm that has experienced significant advancements. Owing to the effects of these technological advancements, people are increasingly lonely and isolated. The physical contact that characterized human relations has been replaced by technological gadgets that mediate contemporary human relations. With the technological world set to undergo even more significant advancements, the situation can only get worse. Social development has experienced retardation and this has resulted in increased isolation.
Works cited
Bacon, Terry R. The Elements of Power: Lessons on Leadership and Influence. New York: AMACOM American Management Association, 2011. Print.
Debord, Guy, The Society of the Spectacle. Paris. Buchet-Chastel. 1967. Print.
Debord, Guy. Comments on the Society of the Spectacle. London: Verso, 1998. Print.
Debord, Guy. Society of the Spectacle and Other Films. London: Rebel Press, 1992. Print.
Foucault, Michel, and Colin Gordon. Power/knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1980. Print.
