Annotated Bibliography

Emily Trowbridge
Professor Michael D. Benton
3-05-10
ENG 102

In this essay I will explain the situationist movement from its beginnings into modern times. I would like to convey the dire need for situationist movements in today’s society. Situationists believe that capitalism and other economic systems exploit workers and turn them into commodities. They encourage people to organize and fight these systems of economic control and regulate the economy and production themselves through a system of democratic worker’s councils. Situationists are essentially libertarian Marxists who challenge capitalist consumerism and seek to end government and corporate control of society. They use methods like detournment (satirical art forms) to combat corporate controlled pop culture. Situationists strive to bring people together in climates that are not dominated by consumerism and alienation. They envision a society where people are free to be creative individuals who are not controlled by economic systems.
I believe that situationism is a silenced history because you never hear about it in the mainstream media or even in most independent media sources. I consider myself an informed citizen, yet I had never heard of situationism until a few weeks ago. Situationist movements and ideals are a danger to capitalism and corporate interests; therefore the government ignores them in an effort to keep the public uninformed and unaware of how to combat systems of economic control. I feel that the situationist movement correlates directly with Howard Zinn’s The People Speak because the situationist movement has been silenced by our government. The American government has done everything in its power to shut up dissenters, especially those who challenge the corporate control of our nation.

Aronoff, Myron Joel and Douglas B. Emery, . The Frailty of Authority. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction, Inc., 1986.
This book is a collection of writings by many different authors who discuss authority and the people who challenge it. Douglas Emery authored chapter six, titled Popular Music of the Clash: A Radical Challenge to Authority, where he talks about how the Clash use their music to promote social change. I think that The Frailty of Authority will be a valuable resource for my essay because situationism is essentially about challenging authority and the many forms it can take. Popular Music of the Clash: A Radical Challenge to Authority is of particular interests to me because punk music is integral to the situationist movement. Emery seems to be a supporter of the situationist movement.

Black, Bob. The Abolition of Work. Port Townsend, Washington: Loompanics, 1985.
Bob Black believes work, in its current form, should be eliminated. In The Abolition of Work, Black explains how almost everyone is enslaved by work, leaving no time for individuality and free thought. He proposes a society in which people are free to do as they please, unhindered by bosses and leaders who tell us what to do. This book is a great resource for my essay because Black challenges all economic systems. It conveys a vision of society based on free thought and expression, unfettered by the government and managers who control our daily lives. These ideas are central to situationist beliefs. Although his ideals are similar to those of situationists, they do not necessarily advocate the abolition of work.

Debord, Guy. Society of the Spectacle. London, England: Rebel Press, 1983.

In Guy Debord’s the Society of the Spectacle he calls attention to the problems created by a society based on production. Debord believes this kind of society gives birth to spectacles, or false images of reality that eventually become reality to those who are unaware. The information I’ve found in this book is important to my essay because it discusses the inverted society that is being created by the consumer economy. Debord believes the media, advertisements, and consumer culture force people into a false reality where their interactions with others and even their thoughts are controlled by the spectacle. Debord led the situationist movement and therefore is a proponent of situationist ideals.

Lippit, Victor D. Capitalism. New York, New York: Routledge, 2005.

This book is an in depth look at capitalism. Lippit discusses the advantages and disadvantages of capitalism. He also explains how capitalism affects the class system and environment. Lippit ultimately concludes that capitalism is bad for society. Capitalism seems to be an unbiased look at the capitalist system. It will help me to argue for or against capitalism in my essay. Lippit says he wrote the book to get to the root of capitalism and suggest that social change is imperative to improving our society.

Marx, Karl. Das Kapital. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2000.
Karl Marx’s Das Kapital studies Capitalism and how it turns workers into commodities. Marx claims that the working class is allowed to the full value of what is produced, not to the capitalist. Das Kapital is a call to a more human economic system, socialism. This book highlights problems in the capitalist economic system that I will use to support ideals espoused by situationist. Das Kapital addresses the problem of humans as commodities in the capitalist system, which is a central theme in situationism. Karl Marx envisioned a society in which people work with and for one another and reap all the rewards of their labor. Karl Marx helped lay the foundation for the situationsist movement.

Plant, Sadie. The Most Radical Gesture: The Situationist International in a Post Modern Age. New York, New York: Routledge, 1992. Print.
In this book, Sadie Plant takes an objective look at situationism. She explains situationist ideals in depth, simultaneously questioning their ideas and methods. Plant also critiques situationist literature. The Most Radical Gesture: The Situationist International in a Post Modern Age will enable me to poke holes in situationist theory. Plant discusses many of the influences on situationist thought, which gave me a broader understanding of the origins of situationism and look at it in a more objective way.

Radical Women, . The Radical Women Manifesto: Socialist Feminist Theory, Program and Organizational Structure by Radical Women. Seattle, Washington: First Red Letter Press, 2001.
The Radical Women Manifesto calls for the overthrow of capitalism. Radical Women believe capitalism has destroyed our environment and promoted continued warfare. In this book Radical Women inform the reader of the modern family in which the wife is no more than a domestic slave. The Radical Women Manifesto is an important source for my essay, as I wish to address women’s role in the capitalist economic system. Capitalism is a danger to gender equality because it makes it difficult for women to move up in society. In this essay I will discuss the exploitation of women in the capitalist system and how socialism could remedy the gender equality problem. The Radical Women are involved in the situationist movement, and seem influenced by the works of Karl Marx.

Sadler, Simon. The Situationist City. Cambridge, Massachusetts: First MIT Press, 1998.

In this book, Simon Sadler discusses the development of situationist ideals and the early situationist movement. He looks at the idealized city “New Babylon” that early situationist hope to build upon their principals. Simon Sadler is very objective in his assessment of situationism. This book is a very important resource for my essay because it describes the utopian city envisioned by early situationists. It will help me paint a picture, for my audience, of what our world would look like if it were not dominated by the world economy and mass production. Simon Sadler is unbiased on the topic of situationism, and provides an excellent vision of the future of the situationist movement.

My thoughts on Jay Rosen's Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press

Jay Rosen believes that the internet is helping us defeat atomization in the mainstream media. This means that before the internet, we weren't able to connect with others to share information. We had to rely, almost completely, on the media for our news. This meant that anything beyond the press' idea of legitimate debate was essentially off limits to the average citizen. Now that a lot of people get their news from the internet, the media no longer defines what is legitimate news and what is not. Jay Rosen gives us a diagram to help us better understand the practice of journalism in the United States. First, there is the "sphere of concensus", which consists of ideas and things that the media believes everyone should agree on. In other words they are defining truth for us. Can everyone around the world completely agree on anything? If we did planet Earth would be a dreadfully dull place. Second, is the "sphere of legitimate debate", which is what the mainstream media decides is okay for us to discuss. I don't know about you, but I don't want anyone deciding for me what is okay for me to talk about and what is not. Lastly, there is the "sphere of deviance". This is information that the media classifies as radical or unacceptable. This really struck me, because as I read about the "sphere of deviance" I realized I had known about this concept for a long time. I'd just never been able to put this concept into words eloquently. Thank you Jay Rosen, for giving it a name. Considering the fact that five corporations own 86 percent of the world's media, you can imagine the stranglehold they have on how we think of politics. We have got to do something about these mega-corporations who are buying up everything imaginable, so that they can control every aspect of our lives! Thank god for the internet. I can hop online in a flash, and find anything I want within or outside of the "sphere of legitimate debate". This allows people to decide for themselves what is true and what is not, instead of letting the media tell them what to believe. I think Jay Rosen is primarily writing to inform students of journalism how they enforce the "sphere of concensus" without even realizing it. They also define what is within the "sphere of deviance". Journalists are supposed to remain objective about the news, and most believe that they are. This is clearly impossible because we are all biased in some way or another. Any journalist who refutes this is lying. I think that acknowledging this is the only way journalists can start to become more objective, and stop the media from controlling what is okay for us to talk about and what isn't. The mainstream media controls journalism by punishing those who speak outside the sphere of legitimate debate.
They may try to shut up journalists who choose speak outside this sphere, but the web makes it difficult to silence them completely. The media tries to keep us from forming our own opinions by giving us limited information and hoping that we won't look too far outside the sphere of legitimate debate. There may never be an end to the control the mainstream media exerts upon us, and information itself; but we should all do ourselves a favor, and decide for ourselves what is legitimate to debate.

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Vandaveer