Book Review on Wark
In McKenzie Wark’s book, The Spectacle of Disintegration, he takes on the topic of leftists, more importantly leftists throughout history. He examines the origins of leftist thinking, starting with the Chinese, and follows the ideas of leftists all the way through the Occupy Wall Street movement. He refers to these leftists as “Stiuationits”, acknowledging their ability to look at different situations in society and understand there is more going on within them than meets the eye. He claims that these groups of people are not afraid to leave their comfort zone, and it’s often outside of that comfort zone where their ability to create change is seen.
One of the things I tried to grapple with while reading this book was how these Situationists were different than those who follow Marx. What I soon realized is that the people that Wark was describing were more involved in society and it’s cultural impact, rather than Marx who spent a lot of his time analyzing how society interacts with economics.
Another thing that became difficult throughout reading Wark’s book was the different spectacles he was describing, such as the concentrated and diffused spectacle. Wark describes the concentrated spectacle as someone who wants to be idolized in the eyes of people who do not want to idolize them, such as dictators. He goes on to explain that these people want to be the center of attention, concentrating every available media outlet on themselves, which creates a society that is either absolutely behind them or wants to completely revolt against them. Wark describes diffused spectacles as those which people do not realize are entering their subconscious, but slowly do. They do not require the desire by the person or thing to be the center of attention, but they do slowly become that for many people without anyone realizing it. The combination of these two spectacles, referred to by Wark as the integrated spectacle, creates a spectacle out of something that is calling attention to itself, but becomes a part of society regardless of that. Perhaps the most important of all the spectacles described by Wark is the disintegrating spectacle, for which he named his book after. He describes it as the breaking down of the object of people’s fascination so that slowly something stronger can be built from it.
While I found it incredibly challenging to read Wark’s book, feeling as though the references in the book were not for me but for those who were deeply involved Situationists, I was able to take some information away with me. I think that the most important thing to take away from Wark’s book is the fact that there is no right answer for any of this, and that as society continues to evolve so will what these so-called Situationists believe. While his ideas of spectacles seem understandable, I think it’s important to note that what was once considered leftist is no longer completely considered leftists, as is the evolution of the globe to do so. While describing different movies and books, and even expanding into video games, I think it’s important to note that these things are all always changing. While Wark does provide a great history of these things, he doesn’t provide any concrete ideas of where the leftist movement is headed in the future, which I find problematic. Especially with the newer things he elaborates on, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, there is no concrete proof that in hundreds of years society will still be looking back at these events and grappling with them like society does now. Wark fails to take into consideration that the leftist ideas that were around during the Chinese era, and even the 1950’s when the Situationist International were gaining momentum for several years, are all studied examples of people going against what culture provides to create a difference. There is currently no proof that any of the newer stuff he describes is going to leave a lasting impact like the other situations he describes, which leaves the reader wondering if these events we’re witnessing in present time are truly going against the grain or if they’re just a small group of people wanting to draw attention to themselves.
One of the things I tried to grapple with while reading this book was how these Situationists were different than those who follow Marx. What I soon realized is that the people that Wark was describing were more involved in society and it’s cultural impact, rather than Marx who spent a lot of his time analyzing how society interacts with economics.
Another thing that became difficult throughout reading Wark’s book was the different spectacles he was describing, such as the concentrated and diffused spectacle. Wark describes the concentrated spectacle as someone who wants to be idolized in the eyes of people who do not want to idolize them, such as dictators. He goes on to explain that these people want to be the center of attention, concentrating every available media outlet on themselves, which creates a society that is either absolutely behind them or wants to completely revolt against them. Wark describes diffused spectacles as those which people do not realize are entering their subconscious, but slowly do. They do not require the desire by the person or thing to be the center of attention, but they do slowly become that for many people without anyone realizing it. The combination of these two spectacles, referred to by Wark as the integrated spectacle, creates a spectacle out of something that is calling attention to itself, but becomes a part of society regardless of that. Perhaps the most important of all the spectacles described by Wark is the disintegrating spectacle, for which he named his book after. He describes it as the breaking down of the object of people’s fascination so that slowly something stronger can be built from it.
While I found it incredibly challenging to read Wark’s book, feeling as though the references in the book were not for me but for those who were deeply involved Situationists, I was able to take some information away with me. I think that the most important thing to take away from Wark’s book is the fact that there is no right answer for any of this, and that as society continues to evolve so will what these so-called Situationists believe. While his ideas of spectacles seem understandable, I think it’s important to note that what was once considered leftist is no longer completely considered leftists, as is the evolution of the globe to do so. While describing different movies and books, and even expanding into video games, I think it’s important to note that these things are all always changing. While Wark does provide a great history of these things, he doesn’t provide any concrete ideas of where the leftist movement is headed in the future, which I find problematic. Especially with the newer things he elaborates on, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, there is no concrete proof that in hundreds of years society will still be looking back at these events and grappling with them like society does now. Wark fails to take into consideration that the leftist ideas that were around during the Chinese era, and even the 1950’s when the Situationist International were gaining momentum for several years, are all studied examples of people going against what culture provides to create a difference. There is currently no proof that any of the newer stuff he describes is going to leave a lasting impact like the other situations he describes, which leaves the reader wondering if these events we’re witnessing in present time are truly going against the grain or if they’re just a small group of people wanting to draw attention to themselves.