Download or read book The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste written by John Asimakopoulos and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Political Economy of the Spectacle and Postmodern Caste, John Asimakopoulos analyzes the political economy of the spectacle conceptualized by philosophers like Guy Debord through a broad interdisciplinary-nonsectarian approach concluding every society is a caste system legitimized by ideology.
Download or read book Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory written by Vasilis Grollios and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-12-01 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through the negative dialectics of Theodore Adorno, Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory offers an examination of Nietzsche, Benjamin, Castoriadis and the Situationists, who put the concept of illusion at the forefront of their philosophical thought. Vasilis Grollios argues that these political philosophers, except Castoriadis, have up to now been wrongly considered by many scholars to be far from the line of thinking of negative dialectics, Critical Theory and the early Frankfurt School/Open Marxist tradition. He illustrates how these thinkers focused on the illusions of capitalism and attempted to show how capitalism, by its innate rationale, creates social forms that are presented as unavoidable and universal, yet are historically specific and of dubious sustainability. Providing a unique overview of concepts including illusion, totality, fetishization, contradiction, identity thinking and dialectics, Grollios expertly reveals how their understanding of critique can help us open cracks in capitalism and radicalize democratic social practice today. Illusion and Fetishism in Critical Theory is a must read for scholars of political theory and political philosophy, critical theory, the Frankfurt School, sociology and democratic theory.
Download or read book The French Sociological Tradition written by Hichem Karoui and published by Global East-West (London). This book was released on 2024-07-06 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The research background of this book is the rich and complex history of French sociology, characterized by rigorous intellectual inquiry and diverse theoretical perspectives that have profoundly impacted global sociology. The driving idea behind the book "Unlock the Legacy of French Sociology" is to provide a comprehensive exploration of the rich and influential history of French sociology. The book aims to detail the development of French sociological thought, examining the contributions of key figures like Émile Durkheim, Pierre Bourdieu, and others. It also seeks to highlight both well-known and lesser-known aspects of French sociological theory, as well as contemporary trends and practical applications in modern research. The ultimate goal is to offer an authoritative reference and engaging read for students, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding the legacy and ongoing impact of French sociology on global sociological thought. • The research methodology proposed in this book involves a comprehensive examination of the development of French sociology, its historical context, key figures, and contributions to sociological theory and research. • The task is to provide an authoritative reference and engaging read for students, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding French sociology's history and influence. The performance achieved is a detailed exploration of French sociological thought, which supports their goals. Methods • Examination of the historical context of French sociology; • Analysis of key figures and their contributions to sociological theory; • Exploration of lesser-known but significant aspects of French sociological thought; • Discussion of contemporary trends and practical applications in modern research. Conclusion: • The significance of this piece of work lies in its detailed exploration of the rich and influential history of French sociology and its ongoing impact on sociological thought. • Innovation point: Comprehensive examination of both well-known and lesser-known aspects of French sociological thought; • Performance: Detailed and insightful analysis of key figures and theories; • Workload: Extensive research and synthesis of historical and contemporary sociological contributions.
Download or read book Spectacle and Resistance in the Modern and Postmodern Eras written by Martin R. Berthelot and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advanced stage of capitalism that we now live in has brought many changes to the way that society consumes and produces. One of the biggest shifts to the modern economy was the use of visual culture to distract, pacify, and exert power over the masses; a cultural change French theorist Guy Debord named the Society of the Spectacle. As a result, Debord and the Situationist International developed a movement of resistance to reclaim the territories of everyday life being eroded by the spectacle through separation and alienation. Since the term was coined the use of visual culture has accelerated and become even more pervasive in the postmodern world which led Jean Baudrillard to claim that the real has been replaced by simulation and hyperreality. This thesis explores this cultural shift to determine whether the practices of resistance theorized by Debord and the Situationists are still relevant as the reach of postmodernism increases. Link to associated video file: https://vimeo.com/64727252.
Download or read book Postmodernism written by Neville Wakefield and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Dubious Spectacle written by Herbert Blau and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning a quarter of a century, the essays in this book rehearse, in the movement of memory and cross-reflection, an extensive career in theater. The work of Herbert Blau-his directing, writing, and criticism-has been a determining force during this period as theater encounters theory. Blau's struggle to bring a critical intelligence to the American stage goes back half a century, to the quiescent postwar years (which he has eloquently described in The Impossible Theater: A Manifesto). His innovations in performance began with early productions of now-canonical plays that were hardly known at that time (works by Brecht, Beckett, Genet, Pinter, Duerrenmatt, and others). His experience is as distinctive as his versatile habits of mind and conceptual urgency of style. If the impossible takes a little time (as the title of one essay states), Blau's struggle now continues in a theoretical vein. Performance-and his own compelling writing- has moved across other genres and disciplines into fashion, politics, sexuality, and theory. His diversity of thought is demonstrated here in commentaries about the newer modes of performance (including conceptual and body art), various American playwrights, Renaissance drama, new music and theater, voice, the senses and the baroque, and the photographic image. As the essays reflect upon each other, a kind of cultural history, with inflections of autobiography, develops-which is what readers of Blau's previous books have come to expect.
Download or read book Baudrillard Youth and American Film written by Kip Kline and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-05-26 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baudrillard, Youth, and American Film examines the portrayal of youth in American cinema with Jean Baudrillard's radical social theory and philosophical system. Kline uses Baudrillard's corpus to analyze the troubling effects of the portrayal of youth in American teen films, namely, its contribution to discursive violence against young people which holds such a prominent place in many adult-controlled, modern institutions like schools. This kind of violence has multiple iterations, including the inability to imagine youth as meaningful political actors, the insistence on taking teenagers to be morally impoverished, and the propensity for viewing young people as thoroughly heteronomous. While there are certainly pockets of exception, violent discourses often animate institutional disregard for youth. Kline promotes Baudrillard's fatal theory as a way for critical educators, philosophers, sociologists, and other concerned pedagogues to argue for an alteration in the way that youth is portrayed in American films, and to discourage the negative discourse that have colonized conceptions and treatment of young people.
Download or read book The Cultural Turn written by Fredric Jameson and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2009-06-09 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fredric Jameson, a leading voice on the subject of postmodernism, assembles his most powerful writings on the culture of late capitalism in this essential volume. Classic insights on pastiche, nostalgia, and architecture stand alongside essays on the status of history, theory, Marxism, and the subject in an age propelled by finance capital and endless spectacle. Surveying the debates that blazed up around his earlier essays, Jameson responds to critics and maps out the theoretical positions of postmodernism’s prominent friends and foes.
Download or read book Sociological Abstracts written by Leo P. Chall and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CSA Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800+ serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.
Download or read book Inventing the Future written by Nick Srnicek and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2015-11-17 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This major new manifesto offers a “clear and compelling vision of a postcapitalist society” and shows how left-wing politics can be rebuilt for the 21st century (Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism) Neoliberalism isn’t working. Austerity is forcing millions into poverty and many more into precarious work, while the left remains trapped in stagnant political practices that offer no respite. Inventing the Future is a bold new manifesto for life after capitalism. Against the confused understanding of our high-tech world by both the right and the left, this book claims that the emancipatory and future-oriented possibilities of our society can be reclaimed. Instead of running from a complex future, Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams demand a postcapitalist economy capable of advancing standards, liberating humanity from work and developing technologies that expand our freedoms. This new edition includes a new chapter where they respond to their various critics.
Download or read book Consumer Culture and Postmodernism written by Mike Featherstone and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1991 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Implicit within claims that society itself is in some sense postmodern is an argument about the priority of consumption as a determinant of everyday life. In this view, mass media advertising and market dynamics lead to a constant search for new fashions, new styles, new sensations and experiences. Material goods are consumed as `communicators'; they are valued as signifiers of taste and of lifestyle. This volume examines the viability of this portrait of contemporary society. Mike Featherstone explores the roots of consumer culture, how it is defined and differentiated and the extent to which it represents the arrival of a `postmodern' world. He examines the theories of consumption and postmodernism among contemporary social theorists such
Download or read book Fashionable Nonsense written by Alan Sokal and published by Picador. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1996 physicist Alan Sokal published an essay in Social Text--an influential academic journal of cultural studies--touting the deep similarities between quantum gravitational theory and postmodern philosophy. Soon thereafter, the essay was revealed as a brilliant parody, a catalog of nonsense written in the cutting-edge but impenetrable lingo of postmodern theorists. The event sparked a furious debate in academic circles and made the headlines of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. In Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science, Sokal and his fellow physicist Jean Bricmont expand from where the hoax left off. In a delightfully witty and clear voice, the two thoughtfully and thoroughly dismantle the pseudo-scientific writings of some of the most fashionable French and American intellectuals. More generally, they challenge the widespread notion that scientific theories are mere "narrations" or social constructions.
Download or read book The Accumulation of Freedom written by Anthony J. Nocella II and published by AK Press. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only crisis of capitalism is capitalism itself. Let's toss credit default swaps, bailouts, environmental externalities and, while we're at it, private ownership of production in the dustbin of history. The Accumulation of Freedom brings together economists, historians, theorists, and activists for a first-of-its-kind study of anarchist economics. The editors aren't trying to subvert the notion of economics—they accept the standard definition, but reject the notion that capitalism or central planning are acceptable ways to organize economic life. Contributors include Robin Hahnel, Iain McKay, Marie Trigona, Chris Spannos, Ernesto Aguilar, Uri Gordon, and more.
Download or read book Symbolic Exchange and Death written by Jean Baudrillard and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jean Baudrillard is one of the most celebrated and most controversial of contemporary social theorists. This major work occupies a central place in the rethinking of the humanities and social sciences around the idea of postmodernism. It leads the reader on an exhilarating tour encompassing the end of Marxism, the enchantment of fashion, symbolism about sex and the body, and the relations between economic exchange and death. Most significantly, the book represents Baudrillard′s fullest elaboration of the concept of the three orders of the simulacra, defining the historical passage from production to reproduction to simulation. A classic in its field, Symbolic Exchange and Death is a key source for the redefinition of contemporary social thought. Baudrillard′s critical gaze appraises social theories as diverse as cybernetics, ethnography, psychoanalysis, feminism, Marxism, communications theory and semiotics. This English translation begins with a new introductory essay.
Download or read book The Political Philosophy of Poststructuralist Anarchism written by Todd May and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 1994-07-22 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The political writings of the French poststructuralists have eluded articulation in the broader framework of general political philosophy primarily because of the pervasive tendency to define politics along a single parameter: the balance between state power and individual rights in liberalism and the focus on economic justice as a goal in Marxism. What poststructuralists like Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean-François Lyotard offer instead is a political philosophy that can be called tactical: it emphasizes that power emerges from many different sources and operates along many different registers. This approach has roots in traditional anarchist thought, which sees the social and political field as a network of intertwined practices with overlapping political effects. The poststructuralist approach, however, eschews two questionable assumptions of anarchism, that human beings have an (essentially benign) essence and that power is always repressive, never productive. After positioning poststructuralist political thought against the background of Marxism and the traditional anarchism of Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Proudhon, Todd May shows what a tactical political philosophy like anarchism looks like shorn of its humanist commitments—namely, a poststructuralist anarchism. The book concludes with a defense, contra Habermas and Critical Theory, of poststructuralist political thought as having a metaethical structure allowing for positive ethical commitments.
Download or read book The Spectacle of Disintegration written by McKenzie Wark and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following his acclaimed history of the Situationist International up until the late sixties, The Beach Beneath the Street, McKenzie Wark returns with a companion volume which puts the late work of the Situationists in a broader and deeper context, charting their contemporary relevance and their deep critique of modernity. Wark builds on their work to map the historical stages of the society of the spectacle, from the diffuse to the integrated to what he calls the disintegrating spectacle. The Spectacle of Disintegration takes the reader through the critique of political aesthetics of former Situationist T.J. Clark, the Fourierist utopia of Raoul Vaneigem, René Vienet’s earthy situationist cinema, Gianfranco Sangunetti’s pranking of the Italian ruling class, Alice-Becker Ho’s account of the anonymous language of the Romany, Guy Debord’s late films and his surprising work as a game designer. At once an extraordinary counter history of radical praxis and a call to arms in the age of financial crisis and the resurgence of the streets, The Spectacle of Disintegration recalls the hidden journeys taken in the attempt to leave the twentieth century, and plots an exit from the twenty first. The dustjacket unfolds to reveal a fold-out poster of the collaborative graphic essay combining text selected by McKenzie Wark with composition and drawings by Kevin C. Pyle.
Download or read book All that is Solid Melts Into Air written by Marshall Berman and published by Verso. This book was released on 1983 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The experience of modernization -- the dizzying social changes that swept millions of people into the capitalist world -- and modernism in art, literature and architecture are brilliantly integrated in this account.
