Society of the Spectacle (Black & Red Translation, First Edition)

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•

Guy Debord

SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE

a Black & Red translation unauthorized DETROIT 1970

No copyright No rights reserved

CONTENTS

Paragraph

Chapter

Separation Perfected II

Commodity As Spectacle

35

III

Unity And Division Within Appearance

54

IV

The Proletariat As Subject And As Representation

73

V

Time And History

125

VI

Spectacular Time

147

VII

The Organization Of Territory

165

VIII

Negation And Consumption Within Culture

185

IX

Ideology Materialized

212

No copyright No rights reserved

And WI out doubt ou r epoch ...prefers the image to the thing, copy to the original the representation to the rea l i ty, appearance to bein g ... What i s sacred for it i s o n l y illusion, but what is profane-· is truth . M ore than that, the sacred grows in its eyes to the extent that truth d i m i n ishes and i l l usion i ncreases, to such an extent that the peak of illusion is for i t the peak of the sacred.

FEUE R BACH

The entire l ife of societies i n whi ch modern conditions of product ion reign a nnou nces itself as an i m mense accu m u lation of spectacles. Every­ thing that was direct l y l ived has moved away i nto a represen tat i on. 2

The i mages which detached themselves from every aspect of l ife fuse i n a common stream where the u n ity of l ife can no longer be reestab­ l i shed. R ea l ity considered partially deploys itself i n its own genera l u n i­ ty as a pseu do-worl d apart, an object of contemplation on ly. The spe­ cial i zation of i mages of the worl d is redi scovered, perfected, i n the worl d of the autono m ized i mage, where the liar has l ied to h im self. The spectacle i n genera l , a s the concrete i nversion of l i fe, is the autonomous movement of the non-l iving. 3

The spectacle presents itself si mu ltaneou sly as society itself, as a part of society, a n d as instrumen t of unifica tion. As a part of society i t i s specifica l l y t h e sector which concentrates a l l look ing a n d a l l con­ sciousness. Because of the very fact that th i s sector is separa te, it is the location of the abused look and of fal se consciou sness; a n d the u n i fi­ cat i on wh ich it accompl i shes i s not h i n g other than an official language of genera l ized separation.

4 The specta c l e is not a co l l ecti on of i mages but a soc i a l relation a mong peo p l e med iated by i mages.

5 The spectac l e can not be u nd e rstood as the abuse of a wo r ld of vi­ sion, as the prod uct of the tec h n i q u es of mass d issem ination of i mages. It is, rather, a Weltanschauung w h i ch has become actu a l , m ateria l l y translated .

It is a vision of the world w h i ch has become objecti fied.

6 T h e spectacle, understood i n its tota l ity, is si m u ltaneously the re­ sult a nd the project of the ex isti n g mode of prod uct i o n . pl ement to the real wor l d , its added d ecorat ion. u n real ism of the real society.

It i s n ot a su p­

It is the h ea rt of the

In a l l its specific forms, as i n fo rmation or

propaganda, advert isement or d i rect consu m ption of ente rta inments, the spectac l e is the present model of soci a l l y d o m i na nt l ife.

It is the

o m n i p resent affi rmation of the cho ice already made in p rod uction and its coro l lary consu m ption.

The form a nd the content of the spectacle

are identica l l y the tota l just i f i cation of the con d it ions and t he ends of the exist i n g syste m . The spectacle is a lso the permanent presence of this j ust ificat i on , to the extent that it occu pies the p r i nc i p a l part of the time l ived o u tside of modern prod u ct i o n.

�

7 Separation is itself part of the u n ity of the wo r l d , of the g lobal soc i a l pra x i s which i s sp l it i nto rea l ity a nd i mage. T h e soci a l practice i n front of w h ich the autonomous spectacle parades i s a lso the real tota l ity w h i c h co nta ins the spectacle. But the gash w i t h i n t h i s tota l i ty m u t i l ates it to t h e po int of mak i n g the spectacle appear to be its goa l . T h e Ian· guage of the spectacl e consists of signs of the r u l i n g prod uction, w h i ch at the same t i m e are the u l t i m ate goa l of t h i s prod uction.

8 O n e can not abstractly contrast t he spectac le to actual soc i a l activity: such a d ivision is itse l f d i vi ded. T h e spectacle wh ich inverts t he rea l is i n fact prod uced .

At the same t i me l i ved rea l ity i s m ater i a l l y i nvaded by

the conte m p lation of the spectacl e, and it takes up t he specta c u l a r order with i n itself, g i v i n g it a pos it ive a d h esion. on both s ides.

Objective rea l ity is present

Every notion f i x ed this way has no other basis than its

passage into the opposite : spectacle is rea l .

rea l i ty r i ses u p with i n the specta cle, and the

T h is reci proca l a l ienation is the essence a nd the s u p­

port of the ex ist i n� soci ety.

9 W i t h i n a world really on its head, the true is a moment of the fa l se .

10 The concept of the spectacle u n i fi es a n d e x p l a i n s a great d iversity of a pparent pheno mena.

The d iversity and the contrasts are the a p pear­

ances of t h i s soc i a l l y organ i zed a ppearance w hi c h m u st itse l f be recog­ n i zed i n its gen era l truth.

Cons ide red in its own terms, the spectacle is

the affirma tion of appearance and the aff i rmation of a l l h u m a n , n a m e l y soci a l l i fe, as m ere a ppea rance. B ut t h e c r i t i q u e w h i ch reaches t h e truth of the spectacle u n covers it as the v i s i b l e nega tion of l ife; as a negation of l i fe wh ich has become visible.

11 To descri be the spectacle, its for mation, its fu nctions, and the forces wh ich tend to d issolve it, one m u st artific ia l l y d i stinguish some i nsep­ ara b l e e l ements.

W hen ana l y z i n g the specta cle one speaks, to so m e ex­

tent, the la nguage of the spectacu l ar itself in the sense that one m oves across the m et hodologica l terra i n of the soc iety w h ich expresses itsel f i n the spectacle. But the spectacle is noth i n g other tha n t h e sense o f the total practice of a socia l-econom ic format i o n , its use of time.

It is the

h ist orical moment which conta ins us.

12 The spectac le presents itse lf as an enormous u nuttera b l e and i nac­ cess i b l e actual ity.

It says noth i ng more than "that wh ich appears is

good , that w h i ch is good a p pears . "

T h e att itude w h i ch it demands i n

pri n c i p l e i s thi s passive acceptance, w h ich i n fact it h a s a l read y obta i n ed by its manner of appea r i n g without rep ly, by its monopo l y of a p pear­ ance.

13 The basica l l y tautologica l character of the spectacle flows from the s i m ple fact that its means are at the sa me t i me its goa l .

I t is the s u n

w h ich never sets over t h e e m p i re of modern passivity . I t covers the en­ tire su rface of the wo rld and bathes end l ess l y in its own glory.

14 The society wh ich rests on modern ind ustry is not acc identa l l y or superfici a l l y spectacu lar, it is funda menta l l y spectaclist.

I n the spec­

tacle, i mage of the ru l i ng econo m y , the goa l is not h i ng, d evelopm ent is a l l . T h e spectacle wants to get to n ot h i ng oth er than itself.

15 As the i nd ispenab l e decorat ion o f the obj ects prod uced today, as the general expose of the rational ity of the system, as the ad vanced eco­ nomic sector w h i ch d i rect ly shapes a grow i ng m u ltitude of i mage­ objects, the spectacle is the main production of present-day society.

16 The spectacle subj ugates l i v i n g men to itse lf to the extent that the economy has tota l l y subjugated the m . It is no more than the eco nomy develo p i n g for itself.

I t is the true ref l ection of the prod u ction of

t h i n gs, and the fa lse objectif ication of the prod u cers.

17 The fi rst phase of the d o m i nation of the econo m y over soci a l l i fe had brought i nto the d ef i n it i on of a l l h u man rea l ization an obvious degrad ation of being i nto having.

The present phase of total occu pa­

tion of social l i fe by the acc u m u lated results of the econ o m y l eads to a genera l i zed

sl i d i ng of ha ving i nto appearing, from which a l l actu al

" hav i ng" must d raw its i m med iate prest ige and its u l t i mate fu nction. At the same t i me al l i n d i v i d u a l rea l ity has become socia l , d i rect l y de­ pendent on social force, shaped by it. cause it is not.

It is a l l owed to appear on l y be­

18 When the rea l world changes i nto s i m p l e i mages, s i m p l e i mages be­ com e rea l beings a nd effective mot ivat ions of a hypnotic behavior. The spectacle as a tendency to make one see the world by means of various spec i a l i zed m ed iations ( it can no longer be gras ped d i rect l y ) , n atural l y finds v ision to b e t h e priv i l eged h u ma n sense wh ich the sense o f touch was for other epochs; the most abstract, the most m yst ifiab l e sense cor­ responds to the genera l i zed a bstraction of present-day society. B u t the spectacle is no longer identifiable with the mere look, even com b i ned with h ea r i ng.

It is that w h i ch escapes the activ ity of m e n , that w h i ch

escapes reconsideration a nd correct ion by their work.

It is the o ppos ite

of d ia logue. Wherever there is ind ependent representation the spectac le reconstitutes itself.

19 T h e spectacle is the heir of a l l th e wea k n esses of the Western ph i l o­ soph i ca l project w h i ch was to u nd erstand activity, dom i nated by the categories of seeing; i n d eed , it is based on the i n cessa nt dep loyment of the precise tech n ical rational ity wh ich grew out of t h i s thou ght.

It d oes

not rea l ize p h i l osophy, it ph i l osoph izes rea l it y . I t is th e concrete l i fe of a l l w h i c h is d egraded i nto a speculative u n iverse.

20 P h i losophy, the power of separate thou ght a nd the thou ght of sep­ a rate power, cou l d never by itsel f overco m e theology. The spectac l e is the materia l reconstruction of the rel i g ious i l lusion.

Spectacu l a r tech­

nol ogy has not d issi pated the relig ious c l ouds where men had p l aced their own powers d etached from themselves; it has o n l y tied them to an eart h l y base. T h u s it is the most earth l y l ife wh ich beco m es opaq ue a nd u nbreath a b l e .

I t no longer throws i n to the sk y but houses w it h i n it­

self i ts abso l ute d e n i a l , its fa l lacious parad ise. The spectac l e is the tech­ n ica l rea l ization of th e e x i l e of human powers i nto a beyond ; separation perfected within the i nterior of man .

21

To the extent that necessity i s soc i a l l y dreamed, the drea m becomes necessary. The spectacle is the n ightmare of i mprisoned modern so­ c iety which u lt i mate l y expresses noth ing more than its desi re to sleep. The spectacle is the gua rdian of sleep.

22

The fact that the practica l power of modern society detached itself and bu i lt itself a n i n depen dent empire i n the spectacle can only be ex­ plai ned by a nother fact, the fact that thi s practical power cont i n u ed to lack cohesion a n d remai ned i n contra diction with itself.

23

T h e o l dest social specialization, t h e spec i a l i zation of power, i s at t h e root of t h e spectacle. T h e spectacle i s thu s a speci a l i zed activity w h i ch speak s for the ensemble of the others. I t i s the diplomatic representa­ tion of h i erarchic society in front of itself, where a l l other expression i s ban i shed. H ere t h e most modern i s a l so t h e most archaic.

24 The spectacle i s the u n i nterru pted conversation wh ich the present order mainta i n s about itself, its lau datory monologue. It is the self­ portrait of power in the epoch of its total itarian management of the

•

conditions of existence. The feti shi st appearance of pure objectiv ity i n spectacular relations hi des their character of relations a mong men a n d a mong c lasses: a secon d nature seem s t o dom in ate our environment with its fata l laws. B u t the spectacle is not the necessary product of technical development seen as a natural development. The society of the spectacle is on the contrary the form wh ich chooses its own tech­ nical content. If the spectacle, taken in the l i m ited sense o f " means of mass com m u n ication," wh ich are its most glaring su perficia l man ifesta­ tion, may seem to invade society as a si m ple i n stru mentation , this in­ stru mentation i s in fact nothi ng neutra l but is the very instru mentation wh ich i s su ited to the tota l self-movement of the spectacle. If the social nee ds of the epoch in which such techn iques are devel oped can onl y be satisfied through their mediation, if the a dm in i stration of this society and a l l contact among men can no longer take place except through the intermediary of this power of instanta neou s com mu n icati on, it is be­ cau se this " com m u n ication" is essenti a l l y unila teral. As a resu lt the concentration of " co m m u nication" accu m u lates within the h a n ds of the a dm i n i stration of the existing system the means which a l low it to carry on th is particular adm i n i stration. The genera lized cleavage of the spec­ tacle i s i n separable from the modern State, namely from the general form of cleavage within society, the product of the division of social labor and the organ of c lass dom ination.

25 Separation i s the a l pha a n d the omega of the spectacl e . The institu­ tional ization of the social division of labor, the formation of classes, had

constructed a f i rst sacred contemplation, the myth i ca l order with wh ich every power covers i tself from the begi nni ng. The sacred h as j u stified the cosm ic and ontological order wh i ch corresponded to the i nterests of the masters, it has ex plained and embe l l i shed that which society could not do. T h u s a l l separate power has been spectacu lar, but the adherence of a l l to an i m mobi l e i mage on l y sign ified the com mon acceptance of an i magi nary prolongation for the poverty of real social activity, sti l l large­ ly felt as a u n itary cond ition. The modern spectacle, on the contrary, expresses what soc iety can do, but in th i s ex pression the permitted i s abso l u tely opposed t o t h e possible. T h e spectacl e i s t h e preservation of u nconsciousness with i n the practica l change of the condit ions of ex­ i stence. It is its own product, a nd it has made i ts own ru les: it is a pseudo-sacred . It shows what it is: separate power developing with i n itself, i n the growth of productivity b y m ea n s of the i ncessant refi ne­ ment of the d iv i sion of labor i nto a parce l l ization of gestures w h i ch are then dom inated by the i ndependent movement of mach i nes; a nd work­ i ng for an ever more expanded market. A l l commu nity and a l l critical sense are d i sso lved d u r i ng th is movement in which the forces which cou ld have grown have separated anrl have not yet been red i scovered.

26

With the general ized separation of the worker from his produ ct every u nitary viewpoi nt of accom p l i shed activity and a l l d irect personal com­ m u n ication among producers, are lost. Acco m panying the progress of the accu mu lation of separate prod ucts and the concentration of the pro­ d u ctive process, u nity and com m u n i cation become exc l u sively the at­ tri bute of the d irectorate�of the system . The success of the econo m ic sy stem of separation i s the proletarianization of the world.

27 T h rough the very su ccess of separate prod uction i n the sense of pro­ d u ction of the separate, the basic experience rel ated i n pri m itive socie­ ties to a principal work is in the pr ocess of being d i splaced by no n-work, by i nactivity, at the po l e of the system's deve l o pment_

B u t t h i s i nac­

tivity is in no way l iberated from prod uctive activi ty:

it depends on

produ ctive activity, it is an uneasy a nd ad m i ri ng su b m issi on to the n ec­ essit ies a n d the res u l ts of pro d u ct i o n ; i t is itsel f a product of i ts rati on­ a l ity.

There can be no l i berty outside of activi ty, and in the context

of the spectac l e a l l act ivity is negated , j u st as real activity has been cap­ tured in its entirety for the gl oba l erection of t h i s resu l t. T h us the pre­ sent " l i beration from labor," the a ugmentat i o n of leisure, is in no way a l i berat ion with i n labor, nor a l i beration of the wor l d sh aped b y th is l abor.

Non e of the activity stolen w i t h i n l a bor can be red iscove red i n

t h e s u b m ission t o its resu lt.

28 The econom ic system fou nded o n isolation is a circular production of

isolation.

The techno logy is based on isolat i o n , and the tech n ical pro­

cess isolates i n turn.

F ro m the a utomob i l e to televisi o n , a l l the goods selected by the spectac u l ar system a re a l so i ts weapons for a constant reinforcement of the cond itions of isolation of "Ionely crowds."

The

spectac l e consta ntly red iscovers its own assu m ptions more concret e l y .

29 The origin of the spectacle i s the loss of the u nity of the world , and the gigantic expansion of the modern spectacle expresses the tota l ity of this loss:

the abstraction of a l l specific labor and the general abstrac­

tion of the entirety of produ ction are perfectly translated i n the spec­ tacle, whose mode of being concrete is precisely abstraction.

I n the

spectacle, one part of the world represents itself before the world and is superior to it.

The spectacle is noth ing more than the common l an­

guage of th is separation.

What ties the spectators together is no more

than an i rreversible relation at the very center which mai ntains their isolation. The spectacle reun ites the separate, but reun ites it as separate.

30 The alienation of the spectator to the profit of the contemplated abject (wh ich is the resu lt of h is own unconscious act ivity) is expressed

in the fo l lowing way :

the more he contemplates the less he l ives; the

more he accepts recogn izing h i mself in the domi nant i mages of need,

t!;e Ips::: he ��nderstands his own existence and his own desi res. The ex· ternal ity of the spectacle in relation to the active man appears i n that his own gestures are no longer h i s but those of another who represents them to h im. This is why the spectator does not feel at home anywhere, because t he spectacle is everywhere.

31 The worker does not prod uce h i mself; he produces an i ndependent power.

The success of this production, ils abundance, returns over the

producer as an abundance of dispossession. A l l the time a n d space of h i s world become strange to h i m with the accumu lation of h i s a l i enated products. The spectacle is the map of th i s new worl d, a map which covers precise l y its territory, The very powers which escaped u s show themselves to u s i n a l l their force.

32 The spectacle with i n society correspon ds to a concrete manufactu re of a l i enation. Economic expansion i s mai n l y the expansion of preci se l y thi s i n du stria l production. That wh ich grows with the economy moving for itsel f can on l y be the a l i enation which was prec i se l y at its origi n . 33 T h e m a n separated from h i s product h i mself produces a l l t h e deta i l s o f his wor l d with ever i ncreasing power, and t h u s f i n ds h i mself ever more separated from h i s worl d. The more h i s l ife is now h i s product, the more he is separated from h i s l ife. 34 The spectacle i s capital to such a degree of accu mu lation that it be­ comes an i mage.

II.

THE COMMODITY

ASA

SPECTACLE

For it is only as the universal category of to tal social being that the commodity can be understood in its au then tic essence. It is onlv in this context tha t reifica tion which arises from the commoditv rela tion acquires a decisive meaning, as much for the objective evolu tion of so­ ciety as for the a ttitude of men to wards it, for the submission of their consciousness to the forms in which this reifica tion is expressed. . .. This submission also gro ws be­ cause of the fact tha t the more the ra tionaliza tion and mechaniza tion of the work process increases, the more the activity of the worker loses its character as activity and becomes a contemplative a ttitude.

Lukacs H istory and Class Con sciousness.

35 In the essential movement of the spectac l e, wh ich consists of tak i ng u p with i n itself a l l that existed i n h u m a n activity in a fluid sta te, i n order t o possess i t i n a coagul ated state, as thi ngs wh i ch h ave become the exc l usive val ue by their formulation in 'negative of l ived value, we recogn i ze our old enemy, the commodity, who knows so wel l how to seem at first glance somet h i n g trivia l and obvious, wh i le on the con­ trary it is so complex and so fu l l of metaphysical subtleti es.

36 This is the principle of commodity fetish ism, the dom ination of society by " i ntangible as wel l as tangible thi ngs, " w h i ch reaches its absol ute fulfi l l m ent i n the spectacle, where the tangible wor l d is re­ placed by a selection of i mages which exist above it, and wh ich at the same t i me are recogni zed as the tangible par excellence.

37 The wor l d at once present and absent wh ich the spectacle makes visible is the wor l d of the commodity dom i nati ng a l l that is l ived. A n d t h e worl d o f t h e com m odity is thus shown as it is, because its move­ ment is i dentical to the estrangement of men among themselves and vis-a-vis their globa l product.

38 The loss of qual ity so evident at a l l levels of spectacu lar language,

of the objects it praises and the behavior it reg u l ates, merely translates the fu ndamental traits of the real production which brushes rea l ity asid e :

the commod ity-form is through and through equal to itself, the

category of the quantitative.

I t is the quantitative which the com­

mod ity-form develops, and it can only develop with i n the q u antitative.

39 This' development wh ich excl udes the qual itative is, as development, itself subject to a passage i nto the qual itative:

the spectacle signifies

that it has crossed the threshold of its own abundance; this is as yet true only loca l l y at some po ints, b ut is already true on the u niversal sca l e which is the original context of the commod ity, a context wi;;.;ii its practical movement, encompassing the Earth as a world market, :, ' ver ified .

40 The development of productive forces has been the real �'-lcon!:id�u;i h istory wh ich bu i lt and mod ified the cond itions of existence of hum::.n groups as cond itions of surviva l , and extended these conditionseconomic basis of a l l their enterprises.

:ncc

With i n a natural economy, the

commodity sector represented a surpl us of surviva l . T he prod u ction of commodities, which impl ies the exchange of varied prod ucts am,--_ ";' i ndependent producers, cou l d for a long t i me remain craffproductinn contained with in a marginal economic fu nction where its q uantitative truth was sti l l masked.

However, when commodity prod uction met­

the social cond itions of large sca le commerce and of the accu m u l ation of capitals, it seized the total dom i nation of the economy. The cillir� economy then became what the commodity had shown itself to be d u r­ i n g the course of this conquest: a process of quantitative development. This incessant deployment of economic power in the form of the com­ modity, which tran sformed h u man labor i nto commodity-labor, into wage-labor, cu m m u l atively l ed to an abundance in which the pri mary

question of survival is u ndoubted l y resolved, but in such a way that it is constantly rediscovered; it is posed over again each t i me at a h i gher l evel.

Economic growth frees societies from the natural pressure which

demanded their d i rect struggle for surviva l, but at that point it is from their l i berator that they are not l iberated.

The independence of the

com modity was extended to the entire economy over wh ich it ru les. The economy transforms the world, but transforms it on l y into a world of economy.

The pseudo-natu re with i n which h u man labor is a l ienated

demands that it be served

ad infinitum, and this service, being judged

and absolved only by itse l f, in fact acq u i res the total ity of socially perm issible efforts and projects as its servants. The abundance of com-

modities, that i s, the com modity relation, can be no more than aug­ mented surviva l .

41 The dom i nation of the com modity was at first exerted over the economy i n an obscu re manner; the economy itself, the material basis of social l i fe, remained u nperceived and not u n derstood, l ike the fa­ m i l iar wh ich rema ins u nknown. In a society where the concrete com­ modity is rare or u n u sual, it is the apparent domi nation of m oney which presents itself as an emissary armed with fu l l powers w h i ch speak s i n the name of an u n known force. With the i n du stria l revo l u­ tion , the division of labor i n manufactu res, a n d mass production for the world market, the com modity appears in fact as a power wh ich comes rea l l y to occupy social life. It is then that pol itical economy takes shape, as the dom i nant science and as the science of dom ination.

42 The spectacl e is the moment when the com modity has atta ined the total occupation of social l ife. The relation to the commodity is n ot o n l y visible, but one n o longer sees a nyth i ng but it: t h e world one sees is its worl d. M o dern economic produ ction extends its dictatorshi p ex­ tensively a n d intensively. I n the least i n dustrial ized p laces, its domina-

t io n i s a lready present with a few star commodities and as i m peria l i st dom i nation by zones which a re a head i n the development of produc­ t ivity. In these a dvanced zones, social space is invaded by a conti nuous su perimposition of geo l ogica l layers of commodities. At this point i n t h e "secon d i ndu strial revolution," al ienated con su mption becomes for the masses a su pplementary duty to a l i enated production. It is all the sold labor of a society which globa l l y becomes the total commodity for which the cycle m u st be con t i n u ed. For this to be do ne, it is necessary for t h i s total com modity to return as a fragment to the fragmented i n di­ vidu a l , abso l utely separated from the produ ctive forces operat ing as an ensemble. T h u s it i s here that the special i zed sci en ce of dom i nation must in t u rn special ize: it fragments itself i nto sociology, psycho­ tec h n ics, cybernet ics, sem i o l ogy, etc. , watc h i ng over t he sel f-regu lation of all the level s of the process.

43 Whereas i n the pri m itive phase of capita l i st accu mu lat i o n , "po l itical economy sees in the proletarian only the worker," who m u st receive the m i n i m u m i n di spen sable for the conservation of his labor power without ever considering h i m "i n his leisu re, in h i s h u ma n ity," this position of the i deas of the dom i nant class is reversed as soon as the degree of abun­ dance attai ned i n the production of commodities demands a surpl u s of col laboration from the worker. T h i s worker sudde n l y washed of the total scorn wh ich i s clearly shown to h i m by a l l the moda l it i e s of organ­ ization a n d surve i l lance of production, f i n ds h i m se l f each day, outsi de of production, see m i ngly treated as a grown u p, w ith a zea lous pol ite­ ness u n der the mask of a con su mer. Then the humanism of the com­ modity takes charge of the "Ieisure and h u m a n ity" of the worker, si m­ ply becau se political economy can and m u st now dom i nate these spheres as political economy. T h u s the "perfected den i a l of man " has taken charge of the total ity of h u man ex i stence.

44 The spectacle is a permanent opi u m war whose a i m is to make ac­ ceptable the identification of goods with com mod ities, and of satisfac­ tion with survival augmenting accord i ng to its own laws.

But if con­

su mable survival is something wh ich must a lways increase, th is is be­ cause it never ceases to contain privation.

I f there is noth ing beyond

augmented survival , no point where it m ight stop its growth, this is be­ cause it is not beyond privation, but is privation become enriched.

45 W it h automation, w h ich is both the most advanc.ed sector of modern industry and the mod el where its practice is perfectly su m med up, the world of the commodity must su rmount the following contrad iction: the technical i nstrumentation wh ich objectively e l i m inates labor must at the same time conserve labor as a commodity and as the only source of the commod ity.

I n order for automation (or any other l ess extreme

form of i ncreasing the prod uctivity of labor) not to d i m i n ish the actual social labor n ecessary for the enti re society, new jobs must be created . The tertiary sector, services, represents an i m mense extension of con­ tinuous rows of the army of d istri bution, and a eu logy of present-d ay commodit ies:

the tertiary sector is thus a mobil ization of supplemen­

tary forces wh ich opportunely encounters the n ecessity for such an organ ization of rear-guard labor in the very artificial ity of the needs for such commodities.

46 Excha nge v a l u e cou ld origi nate o n l y as a n agent of use va lue, but its victory by means of its own weapons created the con d i t ions for its a utonomous d o m i nation.

Mobi l i z i ng a l l h u man use a nd se i z i n g the

monopol y of its sat isfaction, exchange va l u e has ended u p by directing

use.

T h e process of exchange beca m e identified with a l l poss i b l e use

and redu ced use to the mercy of exchange.

Excha nge value is the

condotti ere of use va l Lie, w h i ch ends u p carry i ng on the wa r for itse lf.

47

The tendency of use value to fall, this constant of cap ital ist econ­ omy, develops a new form of privat ion w i th i n augmented su rviva l . T he new p r ivation is not l i berated to a n y extent fro m the old pen u ry s i n ce it req u i res the part i c i pation of most men as wage work ers i n the end­ less purs u i t of i ts atta i n m ent, and si nce everyone k nows h e m u st su b­ mit or d i e.

The rea l ity of t h i s b l ack m a i l l ies in the fact that use i n its

most i mpover ished form ( eat ing , i n ha b it i n g ) ex ists o n l y to the extent that it is i mpri soned within t h e i l l usory wea l th of augmented surviva l , the rea l basis for the acceptance o f i l l usion irl general i n the consu m p­ tion of modern co m mod it ies. of i l l u sions.

The r ea l consu mer becomes a consu mer

The com mod ity is t h is factua l l y real il l u s ion, and the

spectac l e is its genera l manifestat i o n .

48 Use val ue, w h i c h was i m pl i c i t l y conta i n ed in exchange v a l u e, m u st now be expl i c i t l y proc l a i m ed , in t h e i nverted rea l ity of the spectac le, precise l y because its factua l rec> l ity is erod ed by the overdeve l oped commodity econom y ; and because a pseudo-ju st ification becomes nec­ essary for counterfeit l ife.

49 The spectacle is the other side of money: eq u iva lent of a l l com m od i t i es_

i t is the general a bstract

B u t if money h as d o m i nated soc i ety as

the representation of the cen tra l eq u iva l ence, n a m e l y as t h e exchange­ a b l e property of the various goods whose uses rem a i n ed incomparable,

the spectacle i s its developed modern com plement, in wh i ch the totality of the com mod ity world a ppears as a whole, as a general equ ivalen ce for what the totality of the society can be and do. The spectacle i s the money w h i ch one only looks a t, beca u se in the spectacle the totality of u se is already exchanged for the totality of abstract representation. The spectacle i s not only the servant of pseudo-use, it is already in it­ self the pseudo-use of life.

50

At the moment of economic abundance, the concentrated resu lt of social labor becomes visible and su bju gates all reality to a ppearance, wh ich is now its prod u ct. Capital is no longer the i nv i sible center wh i ch d irects the mode of product ion : accu mulat ion spreads it to the peri phery i n the form of tangible objects. The enti re expanse of society is its portrait.

51

The v i ctory of the autonomou s econom y m u st at the sa me t i m e be its defeat. The forces which it has unleashed eli m i nate the economic necessity w h i ch was the i m mutable basi s of earlier societies. When econ­ o m i c necessity is replaced by the necessity for bou nd less econo m i c d evelopment, t h e sat i sfaction o f pri mary h u man needs is replaced b y un u n i nterru pted fabrication of pseudo-need s w h i ch are red u ced to the si ngle pseudo-need of mainta i n i ng the reign of the autonomous econ­ omy. But the autonomou s economy separates itself forever from basic need to the extent that it emerges from the social unconscious w h i ch depended on it without knowing it. " A I I that i s conscious is u sed u p. That w h i ch i s u nconscious remains u nalterable. B u t once freed , does it not fall to ru i n s in its turn?" (Freud)

52

When society d iscovers that it d epend s on the econom y , the econ­ omy, in effect, depend s on it. T h i s subterranean power, w h i ch has grown to the point of seem ing to be sovereign, has lost its power. That wh i ch was the econom i c it must become the I. The su bject can only emerge from society, namely from the struggle within it. The subject 's possible existen ce hangs on the outcome of the class stru ggle w h i ch shows itself to be the prod u ct a nd the produ cer of the econ om i c fou n­ dation of h i story.

53 The consciousness of d esire and the desire for con sciou sness are identica l l y the project w h i ch , in its negative form, seeks the abol it ion of classes, that i s, the d irect possession by the workers o ver a l l the mo­ ments of their act i vity. Its opposite is the society of the spectacle, where the com mod ity contemplates itself in a world w h ich it has created.

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