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Why did the Situationists’ analysis of 'the society of the spectacle’ inspire a new concept of media freedom in the 1960s?
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Why did the Situationists’ analysis of 'the society of the spectacle’ inspire a new conceptof media freedom in the 1960s?
Situationists, once band and ignored by elites are now part of the textbook material when
studying revolutionaries, media and art. Primarily pioneered and shaped by the author of The
Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord, Situationists fought against what they perceived as a
passive society created through Capitalism (1967) and preached an active participation of an
individual not only in politics but life as well. Their ideology, a life style they supported,
varied starting from arts, leisure to politics as well as suggestions as to how the new
technological achievements developed in 1960s could have been used to improve society’s
life, help humans to experience the satisfaction of action supposed to passively observe it.
The overall underpinning philosophy of Situationists is precisely based on personal
experiences, an active citizen, two way flow of communication and a political agora of
workers councils practicing direct democracy (Barbrook 1995). However, for one to
understand Situationists and their rationale behind the ideas they advocate, first of all the
historical context of the 1960s has to be explained and secondly the writings and observations
of Guy Debord examined. Precisely, due to Debord’s close examination of the system he
lived in and conceptualization of what that system produced as a consequence did the
Situationists had such an antagonistic reaction towards the Capitalism (Plant 1992). Together,
with strengthening the neo-liberal society, the world advanced in technological spectrum that
became yet another tool for governments to brainwash and control the population (Debord
1957, 1961, 1967). Although ideologically distinct, the brainwashing and control mania was
continuously exercised by the Socialist East that further pushed Situationist to construct the
new concept of media freedom. According to Debord, technology that was supposed to
advance the global community and had a potential of freeing the individual (Marcus
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