Spectacle Society Research Articles

Politics as a Spectacle: The Role of Advertising and Physical Image in Visualizing a Political Candidate as Merchandise and Their Impact on Voting Intentions

Advertising no longer describes objects but can impose on Society the obligation to consume whatever is produced. In this way, political advertising has become more commercial, bringing new ways of doing politics where advertising strategies achieve an adapted policy. New advertising strategies have turned the political process into a spectacle encouraging new political behaviour. Through the Society of the Spectacle and the Visual Frame, this quantitative study analysed how advertising uses the physical image of a political candidate as the merchandise that voters acquire as a force of social relationships. In addition, this study is novel in exploring the role of political ideology as a moderating variable that may dampen the effects between image advertising and voting intention. With 582 participants in an electronic survey analysed through PLS-SEM, the study reflects that, during the spectacle process, the political candidate can generate relationships, value and satisfaction through their physical attributes. It enables a purchase through the vote since, once the perception is manifested, the frame is accepted, leading the voter to make non-objective decisions. This research contributes new knowledge to the Spectacle Society and Visual Frame theory by providing a new way of analyzing political candidates and how advertising activates political behaviour.

Frankenstein’s Revenge: Hegemony of Post-Human Spectacles in Golden Fleece

The rapid development of image media today has been reinforcing what Guy Debord argued as society of spectacle. Ubiquitous visual advertising marks that spectacle has invaded diverse aspects of today’s life. The alienated labor relations proposed by Marx are once again simulated into a pseudo-desire structure guided by consumption symbols. Robert J. Sawyer’s Golden Fleece is even set in a post-human world where a society of spectacle has achieved its full maturity. Seeing from Guy Debord’s theory of spectacle society, this paper analyzes how spectacle seizes hegemony over human in future post-human world by means of coercive monologues and history-denying. Moreover, this paper further liberates science fiction from the anthropocentric perspective and discusses the identity of artificial intelligence in post-human era.

Borges, o, la lectura como biografía

This paper deals with the publication of the Biblioteca Personal Jorge Luis Borges, its context within the so called "spectacle society", its "predecessors" (Schwob, Machen, Pliny, Solinus, Aelianus) and its relationship with other contemporary writers, such as the Argentinian Julio Cortázar or the Mexican Juan José Arreola. In addition, it comments on the specific poetical recreation made by Borges on some Virgilian verses, such as the hypallage from the book νι of the Aeneid. The goal is to understand the literary devices Borges uses as a reader of the authors chosen as his "predecessors".

PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES AS ELEMENTS OF THE NEW URBAN IDENTITY OF CITIES

By the start of the 21st century, the majority of the world’s population was living in cities. Therefore, a top priority has been solving the problem of connecting parts of the city divided by traffic infrastructure in the shortest possible manner by using pedestrian paths. The aim of this study was to analyze, systematize, and typologically define the specific types of structures that make this possible, specifically pedestrian bridges located above roads and railway corridors. The primary and secondary requirements that must be met when designing a pedestrian bridge were identified, and an analysis and comparison of examples of constructed pedestrian bridges in Croatia and the world are herein presented. The results of this study enable the conclusion that, in recent times, in the age of the spectacle society and spectacle architecture, pedestrian bridges are simultaneously deemed architecture, engineering, and infrastructure projects. They are becoming new elements in a city’s image and contribute to the creation of a new urban identity. The original design of pedestrian bridges fosters the use of different construction systems and materials in accordance with technical and technological advancements in construction.

The unsustainable weight of self-image: (re)presentations in the spectacle society.

This study aimed to identify adolescent self-image in the face of a society forged by perfect image-body standards, understanding the influence of social relationships and the media in constructing their identities. This is qualitative research based on Oral History involving 13 male and female and adolescents aged 15-19, students from a public school in Minas Gerais. We employed interviews with a semi-structured roadmap to collect data, which were later interpreted by thematic content analysis proposed by Bardin. The findings were arranged into two categories: 1 - Self-image in the construction of the adolescent's identity and 2 - The aesthetic ideal of the spectacle society. The reports show a strong influence of technology in forming their identities and possible consequences that the search for a spectacular image to meet the aesthetic standards of the virtual or real world can bring to adolescents. This idealized self-image reveals the new way of being and living, the values, and the fragile and superficial relationships in the spectacle society.

Fashion and Desire: The Society of Spectacle in Post Reality

Fashion was a contemporary phenomenon that increasingly developed to meet the needs of users in its digital industry era. The rapid development of fashion has made the industry compete to present the latest fashions faster and faster. The support and advances of the Internet in communication technology have helped to accelerate the spread of power through virtual networks. Digital media have brought people into a new experience, namely "post-reality", that had never existed. This study focuses on fashion consumption in the form of clothes with a fast production scale or fast-fashion along with low costs, as well as sneakers that were consumed by young people. One hundred and twenty-nine students at five universities in West Java Indonesia have interviewed. Using a qualitative method which was supported by the summary of the distribution of questionnaires, conducted throughout 2019 and early 2020, the results of this study were then analyzed using Guy Debord's theory of spectacle society. The study has found that the consumption of fast fashion and sneakers by students had an impact on their spending patterns, self-identity, self-confidence, and the role of the user as a commodity spectacle in today's fashion industry.

Política, poder e comunicação em Debord e Arendt

Guy Debord é reconhecido como o principal teórico da sociedade do espetáculo, além de ter sido também um importante militante político e agitador cultural. O artigo aqui apresentado, fruto de uma pesquisa de Pós-Doutorado, procura compreender os conceitos de poder deste autor e como eles estão relacionados com o seu projeto de transformação revolucionária da sociedade capitalista. Tendo em vista este objetivo, será realizada uma análise comparativa com o pensamento de Hannah Arendt, reconhecida como uma das mais significativas autoras do século XX e que também desenvolveu reflexões sobre temas presentes nos textos e na atuação de política e cultural de Debord.

The spectacle of research assessment systems: insights from New Zealand and the United Kingdom

PurposeIn this paper, we concentrate on the use of research assessment (RA) systems in universities in New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK). Primarily we focus on PBRF and REF, and explore differences between these systems on individual and systemic levels. We ask, these days, in what way(s) the systemic differences between PBRF and REF actually make a difference on how the two RA systems are experienced by academic staff.Design/methodology/approachThis research is exploratory and draws on 19 interviews in which accounting researchers from both countries offer reflections on their careers and how RA (systems) have influenced these careers. The stories they tell are classified by regarding RA in universities as a manifestation of the spectacle society, following Debord (1992) and Flyverbom and Reinecke (2017).FindingsBoth UK and New Zealand academics concur that their research activities and views on research are very much shaped by journal rankings and citations. Among UK academics, there seems to be a greater critical attitude towards the benefits and drawbacks of REF, which may be related to the history of REF in their country. Relatively speaking, in New Zealand, individualism seems to have grown after the introduction of the PBRF, with little active pushback against the system. Cultural aspects may partially explain this outcome. Academics in both countries lament the lack of focus on practitioner issues that the increased significance of RA seems to have evoked.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is context-specific and may have limited applicability to other situations, academics or countries.Practical implicationsRA and RA systems seem to be here to stay. However, as academics we can, and ought to, take responsibility to try to ensure that these systems reflect the future of accounting (research) we wish to create. It is certainly not mainly or solely up to upper management officials to set this in motion, as has occasionally been claimed in previous literature. Some of the academics who participated in this research actively sought to bring about a different future.Originality/valueThis research provides a unique contextual analysis of accounting academics' perspectives and reactions to RA and RA systems and the impact these have had on their careers across two countries. In addition, the paper offers valuable critical reflections on the application of Debord's (1992) notion of the spectacle society in future accounting studies. We find more mixed and nuanced views on RA in academia than many previous studies have shown.

La televisión sensacionalista y hábitos de consumo en España e Italia

La televisión, como medio de comunicación de masas por excelencia, es considerada como un instrumento de socialización, modelador de conciencias e incitador de la opinión pública. Esta investigación se enmarca en la sociedad de la información y el espectáculo. El objetivo es analizar los tipos de audiencia y hábitos de consumo de los programas de carácter sensacionalista, además de la recepción de los mensajes. Mediante un análisis cuantitativo, consistente en un cuestionario, se ha analizado una muestra significativa de 544 sujetos, repartidos entre España e Italia. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que la población española consume con mayor frecuencia este tipo de programas. Además, el progresivo incremento de estos espacios ha provocado que existan diferencias estadísticamente significativas. Las conclusiones demuestran la falta de calidad informativa en los programas de tipo sensacionalista, convirtiéndose en un tema relevante para los estudios científicos, justificando la falta de códigos deontológicos que apoyen e incentiven una televisión de calidad.

Datafication and the Development of Global Digital Civilizations

New emerging technologies and the continuous process of digitisation around the globe means a new model of civilization is emerging where society is “digitized” or “datafied”. This paper analyses to what extent we have undergone the process of digitisation and datafication through understanding concepts of the surveillance society, spectacle society, our digital footprints and the amount of data gathered by government agencies, individuals and companies and its utilisation; and how this process has led to the development of a “global digital civilization”. Disparity between levels of digitisation in different regions in a globalised world are addressed to determine if certain regions contend hegemony over others within digital realms. To further understand how globalisation itself is perceived in a digitised world, a software called “Mention” was used to collate data in relation to the terms “globalization”, “global” and “globalisation” on digital platforms such as Twitter, blogs, news, websites and forums over a month’s time period. Online rhetoric in relation to this term and the locations from which data was mostly surfacing in higher amounts has greatly added to the findings.

A morte da autora Veronica Stigger

Resumo O artigo analisa a ficção de Veronica Stigger, em especial o pequeno conto “200 m²”, a partir da construção de uma cena que fundaria uma poética em sua literatura. No texto em questão, a personagem, que se chama Verônica, encena o suicídio dela própria - e dela como autora. Uma das consequências teóricas dessa cena da morte da autora nos leva a pensar em uma tensão entre “letra morta” e “palavra viva”, conforme a releitura que o filósofo Jacques Rancière faz da crítica de Platão à escrita. Mas tal cena também aponta, à medida que instaura uma série de “separações” entre a escrita e seu objeto, para uma alternativa crítica de sua literatura frente à sociedade do espetáculo. Tal trajetória, finalmente, abre uma pergunta incontornável a respeito do conto analisado, pergunta que deve ser estendida aos livros seguintes de Stigger, e que, no entanto, não dá margem para nenhuma resposta aceitável: se a autora morreu, como é capaz de seguir escrevendo seus livros?

Auxilio Reclusión en Brasil: ¿aporía de la exclusión o la paradoja del capital?

The aim of this paper is to critically encompass the concept and application of Prisoner Aid in the spectacle society, understood as an allegory in Brazilian liberal democracy, in contrast to the idea of justice, the promotion of human rights and the current stage of the structural crisis of capital. Thus, starting from generative issues - What are the impacts of Prisoner Aid? Who does it affect?- we point out the prevention principles that guide Brazilian Social Security (legal framework) and how Social Security in Brazil (institutional framework and agendas) is structured, highlighting the historical contextualization in the period between 1988 (Brazilian Constitution) and 2013. With a qualitative and documentary approach, the indicated methodology is legal-institutional discourse analysis, incorporating analysis of the role and purpose of the State under the aegis of the ethical-moral subject being supplanted by the commodity subject.

“WE ARE THE WORLD”: THE FLIGHT FROM IMPOTENCE IN THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE

Punctuating a recent music video we see, in his white glove and gold jacket, before his infamous face-whitening surgeries, the Michael Jackson of old. This video, for the song “We are the World 25,” is introduced, directly into camera, by a sincere Jamie Foxx, who implores viewers to give generously to help the recovery effort in Haiti. “Do more than just watch,”he says. “Take action.” Then, before the expected images of Haitians, and even before the singing celebrities themselves, we see a host of signatures unfolding on a black background.From the beginning, then, this video walks a very thin line: clearly banking on the reputations of singers who have made their careers as spectacles, as images, the video goes to some lengths to claim an authentic, and even superior, political position. “Give what you can,”Jamie Foxx says, “as I have.”The video’s repeated use of the image of Michael Jackson signifies this tenuous, if not contradictory, position. Who, after all, is more exemplary of the cultural logic of the societyof the spectacle than Michael Jackson? And who, in the pantheon of MTV singers, spent more time claiming authenticity and declaring our collective responsibility for a universal humanity? The video presents an excess of repetition and citation, in terms of its music and lyrics, the images Michael Jackson himself, as well as the chorus of Jackson-citing celebrity singers. But, despite the obvious point that these images and these performers are perhaps the most manufactured and least authentic imaginable, the video’s authenticity, as well as its anxiety over its own search for authenticity, is almost hyperbolically announced. My goal in this short essay is to read this video in relation to Agamben’s claims about the spectacle in his book The Coming Community. I will argue that it is precisely this citationality, this identity without essence—what is clearly a profoundly inauthentic announcement of authenticity—that Agamben sees as, potentially, the road out of the spectacle society. This video promiseswhat Agamben calls “whatever” politics (1), so–called politics, or, in Derrida’s terminology, a politics “under erasure” ( OG 23). At the same time, this video reveals the parallel logic,suggested in juridical terms in Agamben’s Homo Sacer, in which the anxiety of nonbelonging and inauthenticity leads to a more extreme and potentially violent search for essential group belonging and authentic political identity.

¿Existe la nación puertorriqueña?: Este país no existe de Myrna Casas

From the 40s to the present, the theatre has served to present an academic debate about the Puerto Rican nation. The existence of Puerto Rico is not limited by the representation of a sovereign state but through cultural homogenization. Myrna Casas' play Este país no existe questions this debate by deconstructing the totalizing discourse of nationalism, which has eliminated differences in the society during the era of globalization and the consumer aspects of a spectacle society marked by simulacra. In this play the audience and the readers view the loss of Puerto Rican national values which were addressed in a Lettered Society .

O CORPO E A CIDADE: AOS CUIDADOS DE AFRODITE

O corpo e a cidade: aos cuidados de Afrodite discute como se dá e que papel desempenha, no imaginário contemporâneo, a tensão estabelecida entre a necessidade de construção de sentidos para a existência humana e a vivência em um universo urbano de aparente não-senso da sociedade do espetáculo e do consumo, a partir da leitura do romance A fúria do corpo (1981), de João Gilberto Noll e do filme Os amantes da Pont Neuf (1986), de Leos Carax. Investiga-se em que medida as experiências erótica e estética tem sido impulsionadoras de leituras e escritas de uma nova sensibilidade.

A formação na sociedade do espetáculo: gênese e atualidade do conceito

Revisita as propostas de Guy Debord e seus companheiros da Internacional Situacionista, buscando pôr em evidência o caráter revolucionário do conceito de espetáculo, de uso crítico e radicalmente criativo e das ferramentas mais importantes do espetáculo, as mídias, pois são elas que produzem a imagem dele. O trabalho pretende contextualizar o surgimento da contribuição teórica mais notável de Guy Debord, o conceito de espetáculo como relação social e de sociedade do espetáculo, cuja atualidade é incontestável, pois, recuperado pelas mídias tão criticadas por Debord, o conceito passou para o uso comum, o que demonstra o sucesso da idéia: a sociedade foi se tornando de tal modo espetacular que o conceito de espetáculo foi se impondo como uma evidência para a compreensão das sociedades contemporâneas.

Stage spectacle and Victorian society

(1954). Stage spectacle and Victorian society. Quarterly Journal of Speech: Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 31-36.