society of the spectacle.

Debord's most influential piece of work was 'Society of the Spectacle', first published in 1983. 

In the first lines (p.24), Debord presents the reader with the basis of his ideas, which is that in modern capitalist society, life "presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles." He goes on to say that everything has "receded into a representation" Debord gives the idea of a loss of individuality, and people instead becoming fused into a "common stream" due to modern society.

Throughout the book each point that Debord makes is numbered. Our study group picked up on point 28 (p.32): 

"The reigning economic system is a vicious circle of isolation. Its technologies are based on isolation, and they contribute to that same isolation. From cars to television, the goods that the spectacular system chooses to produce also serve it as weapons for constantly reinforcing the conditions that engender “lonely crowds.” 

The juxtaposing idea of 'lonely crowds' is one of particular interest, as well is the idea of a 'vicious circle of isolation'. This can be seen in modern society as people are dependent on media outlets and have therefore become less sociable and isolated themselves in the media, which has became the norm in modern society. This becomes a vicious circle as there is no escape from the media, it is constantly produced and surrounding everyday life. 

part 187 of 'Society of the Spectacle' also reinforces this idea of isolation, as Debord writes "the language of communication has been lost"(p.124). However, in my study group, we believed that in many ways, new media outlets increase communication. news channels on television allow news to be communicated to the public quickly, and the internet has given people a freedom of speech which was never available before. This freedom gives individuality, implying that media has actually increased individuality rather than taken it away as Debord believed.