Radical America - Vol 4 No 5 - 1970 - June July

8/8/2019 Radical America - Vol 4 No 5 - 1970 - June July

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/radical-america-vol-4-no-5-1970-june-july 1/123





Guy Dbord

SOCIETY

OF THE SPETALE

a Black & R tanslatinnathiz

ETOIT

1970



No cpyrigtN gs rrv



CONTENS

Chapter Paragraph

Separation Perfected

I Commodity As Spectace

I Unty And Dvson Wthin Appearance

V he Proletarat As Subject And As Representaton

V i me And History

V Spectacuar me

VI he Ogaizaton Of ertory

VII Negaton And Consumpton thin Cuture

X deoogy Maeriaed





N yg

N g v



d witout doubt our eoc reers te mage to te tng te

coy to te orgina te reresntato n to te real ty aearance to

beng .. Wat is sacred fo it is only llusion, but wat s profan-· s

ruth. Mor than that, te cred grows n its eyes to te extnt that

trut diminishes and illuson increass, to such an xtnt tat the peakof i lu son s for it the peak of the scred.

F EUERBACH



Te entre e o socetes n wc modern codtons o productonregn a nno unces tse as an m mense accum u aton o speales. Every

t n g tat was d rect y ved as moved away nto a representatn

2

Te mages wc detaced temseves rom every aspect o e usen a common stream were te unty o e can no onge be reestabsed ea ty consdered paially depoys tse n ts own genera u nty as a pseudoword apart, an object o contempaton ony Te specaaton o mages o te word s redscovered, perected, n te

word o te autono m ed mage, were te ar as ed to mse Tespectace n genera, as te concrete nvrson o e, s te autonomousmovement o te non v ng

Te spectace presents tse smutaneousy as socety tse, as apart o socety, and as insument of unifiaion As a part o socety ts speccay te sector wc concentrates a ookng and a con

scousness Because o te very act tat t s sector s sepaae t s teocaton o te abused ook and o ase conscousness and te uncaton wc t accompses s notng oter tan an oca anguageo generaed separaton



The spectace s ot a coecto of mages but a soca eato amog

peope medated by mages

The spectace caot be udestood as the abuse of a wod of so, as t he pod uct of the techq ues of mass d ssem ato of mages.t s ahe, a Wltachauug whch has become actua, mateaytasated . t s a so o f t h e wod wh ch has become objectfed

The spectace, udestood ts totaty, s smutaeousy the e-su t ad th e poject of th e ex st g mode of podu cto . t s ot a su pp e met to te ea wod , ts added d ecoat o t s the h eat of theuea sm of the ea socety a ts specfc foms, as fomat o opopagada, adetsemet o dect cosumpto of etetamets,

the spectace s the peset ml of soca y dom at f e t s theompeset affmato of the choce aray ma poducto adts coo a y cosu mpt o The fom ad t he cotet of the spectaceae detcay the tota justfcato of the codtos ad the eds ofth exstg system. The spectace s aso the prma prc of thsjtfcato, to the extet that t occupes the pcpa pat of the tme tde of mode poducto �



7

Sepaat o is itself pat of the uity of the wo ld , of the g loba l socia lpax s whch s spl it to eal ity ad im age The social pactice i fot

of which the autoomous spectace paades s also the eal totaitywh ich cota is the spectacle But th e gash with i thi s total ity mu ti atesit to the pot of mak g the spectace appea to be its goa The a·guage of the spectacle cosists of g of the ug poducto, whichat the same t me ae the ut im ate goa of ths poductio.

e caot abstacty cotast the spectace to actua social actity:

such a dso s itsef diided The spectace which ets the eal is fact podu ced At th e same ti me ed eal ty s mate ia l y iaded byth e cotemp ati o of th e spectace, ad t takes u p th e spectacul a odewi th i tsef, gi ig it a positie ahesio bectie eal iy is peseto both sides Eey otio fixed this way has o othe bass tha itspassage to the opposite: ea ty i ses up with the spectac le, ad thespectace s ea l . Thi s ec poca a l ieato is the essece ad the su p-pot of the exsti� socety

9

Withi a wod rally it ha the tue is a momet of the fase

1 0

The cocept of the spectace uifes ad explais a geat diesty ofappaet pheomea The desty ad the cotasts ae the appea-aces of ths socialy ogaized appeaace whch must tself be ecog zed ts geea tuth Coside ed its ow tems, the spectac le isthe imi of appeaace ad the affimatio of all huma amelysoc a l fe, as mee appeaace B ut the ct qu e which eaches the tuthof the spectacle ucoes it as the isibe gati of fe; as a egatioof l fe wh ch ha bcm iibl



1 1

descbe the spectce, ts fmtn, ts functns, nd the fceswhch tend t dssle t, ne must tfcl dstngush sme nsep-

ble e lements W hen n l zn g the spectce ne speks, t sme ex-tent, the nguge f the spectcu tsef n the sense tht ne mescss the methdlgcl ten f the scet whch expesses tsen the spectcle But the spectce s nth ng the thn the thettl pctce f scecnmc fmtn, ts u tim t s theh stcl mment wh ch cntns us

1

he spectcle pesents tsef s n enmus unuttebe nd nccessbe ctul t. t ss nthng me thn tht whch ppes sgd, tht wh ch s gd ppes The tttude wh ch t demnds npncple s ths psse cceptnce, whch n ct t hs led btnedb ts mnne f ppeng wthut ep, b ts mnpl f ppe-nce

1

he bscl tutgc chcte the spectcle fws m thes m le fct tht ts mens e t he sme t me ts gl t s th e sunwh c h nee sets e the e mp e f mden psst t ces the ente suce f the wld nd bthes endess n ts wn g

1 4

he scet wh ch ests n mden ndust s nt ccdent supecl l spectcul, t s fundment pctaclit n the spectcle, mge the ul ng ecnm, the g s nthng, deepment s l The spectc e wnts t get t nt h ng the thn tse f



As the ndspenbe decoton of the objects poduced tody, sthe gene epos of the tonlty of the system s the dnced eco-

nomc secto whch decty shpes gowng multtude of mge-objects the spectce s the ma pruc of pesentdy socety

6

The spectce subjugtes ng men to sef o he eten h theeconomy hs totl ly subjugted them t s no moe thn the economydeeo p ng fo tsef t s the tue eflecton of the poduc on ofthngs nd the fse objectfcton of the poduces

7

The fst phse of the domnton of the economy oe socl fe

hd bought nto the defnton of l humn el zton n obodegdton of bg nto hag The pesent phse of tot occup-ton of socl lfe by the ccumulted esuts of the economy leds to gene zed s dng of hag nto apparg fom whch l l ctul

"hng must dw ts mmedte pesge nd ts ultmte functon.At the sme tme l l nddul el ty hs become socl, dectly de-pendent on soc l foce, shped by t t s l lowed to ppe on l y becuse t



1 8

he the eal wod chages ito simple images, simple images be

ome eal beigs ad effectie motiat ios of a hypotic behaio Thespectacle as a tedecy t mak the wold by meas of aiousspecialized mediatios (it ca o loge be gasped diecty) atuayfids isio to be the piileged huma sese which the sese of touchwas fo othe epochs the most abstact, the most mystifiabe sese co-espods to the geea l i zed a bstactio of pesetday society Bu t thespectacle is o loge idetifiable with the mee ook, ee combiedwith heaig t is that which escapes the actii ty of me that wh ichescapes ecosideatio ad coectio by the i wok t is th e opposite

of d ial ogue. Whe ee thee is id eped et ptati th e spectac eecostitutes itsef

1 9

he spectacle is the hei of al the weakesses of the este phiosopica poect which was to udestad actiity, domiated by thecatgois of ig ideed, it is based o the icessat depoymt of

the pecise techical atioa ity whic h gew out of th is thought t doesot eal ize phi losophy, it phi osoph izes eal ity t is the cocete ife ofa l l wh ich is degadd ito a pculai uiese

20

ilosophy, the powe of sepaate thought ad the thought of sepa ate powe, cou ld ee by itsef oecome theology . The spectace is

the mateial ecostuctio of the eig ious il us io Spectacu la techology has ot dissipated the eigious clouds whee me had placedthe ow powes detached fom temseles; it has oy ied them to aeath ly base Th us it is the most eathl y ife wh ich becomes opaqu e adub eathabl e. t o l oge thows ito the sky but houses wit hi itsef its absol ute de ia l, its fal lacio us paad ise The spectac e is the techical eaizatio of the exie of huma powes ito a beyod; sepaatiopeect it the iteio of ma





codii os o ei sece Te eisis appearace o pu re objeciv i inspecacuar relaios ides eir caracer o relaios aog e andaog classes: a second aure sees o do inae our evi roewi is aal laws Bu e specac e is o e ecessar produc oecical developen see as a natural develope Te soci e oe specace is o e corar e or wic cooses is own ecn ica l coe e specace ake i e i ied sese o eas oass couicaio, wic are is os glarig supericial anisa-io a see o ivade socie as a sipe isrueaio is isrueaio is i ac oig eural bu is e ver isruenaiowic is suied o e oal seloveen o e specac e e socia eeds o e epoc i wi c suc ecn iq ues are devel oped can on l be

saisied roug eir ediaion, i e adiisraion o is sociead a ll coac aog e can no oger ake pl ace ecep roug eierediar o is power o insanaeous couicaion, i is be-cause is couicaion is esseiall unlateral As a resu ecocenraio o co u icaion accuulaes wiin e ands o eadiisraio o e eising sse e eans wic alow i o carro is paricu lar ad i israio Te genera ied cl eavage o e specacle is iseparabe ro e ode State nael ro e generalor o cleavage wii socie e produc o e division o socia

labor ad e orga o class doinaion

Separaton is e a pa ad e oega o e specacle Te i si uioa i aio o e social d ivis io o labor, e oraion o c lasses, ad



constucte a fst sace contempation the mythica oe wth whcevey powe coves self fom the begi nn ng The sace has justi f ethe cosmc an o nto og ca oe wh ch coespone to the nteests ofthe mastes it has explane an embelshe that whch society oul

not o Thu s a l sepaate powe has been spectacu la but th e aheenceof al to an mmob e i mage on y sign fe the com mon acceptance of an maginay polo ngaton fo the povety of ea soca actvty stil l lage-ly felt as a u n tay con it on The moen spectac e on the contayexpesses what socety an o but in ths expesson the pemitte sabsolutey oppose to the possible The spectacle is the pesevaton ofunconscousness wthn the pactical change of the contions of exstence It s ts own pouct an t has mae its own u es t is a

pseuosace I t shows what it is sepaate powe eveo pi ng w th ntself in the gowth of pouctvty by mens of the ncessant efnement of the vison of labo nto a pace l aton of gestues whi ch aethen omnate by the nepenent movement of machnes an wokng fo an eve moe expane maket A l comu n ty an a c ticasense ae ssove ung ths movement n whch the foces whchcoul have gown have sepaate n hve not et been e scovee

26

W th the geneal ie sepaation of the woke fom is pouct eveyu ni tay viewpoint of accom p ishe activ ity an al i ect pesonal commu n icaton among pouces ae ost ccompany n g the pogess ofthe accumulaton of sepaate poucts an the concentation of the pouctive pocess unity an communcaton become excusvely the atti bute of the i ectoateof the system The success of the economcsystem of sepaation is the poletaanization of the wol



27

Though the ey success of sepaate poductio i the sese of po

ductio of the sepaate the basic expeiece elated i pimitie societies to a picipa wok is i the pocess of beig displaced by owok,by iactiity, at the poe o the systems deelopmet_ But this iacti ity is i o way i beated fom podu ctie actii ty it depeds opoductie actiity, it is a ueasy ad admiig submissio to the ecessities ad the esults of poductio; it is itsel a poduct of its atioal it y. Thee ca be o l ib ety ou tside o actii ty, ad i the cotextof the spectacle all actiity is egated, just as ea actiity has bee cap

tued i its etiety fo the global eectio of this esult Thus the peset "libeatio fom lbo, the augmetatio o leisue, is i o way aibeatio withi labo, o a ibeatio of the wold shaped by thislab o Noe of the actiit y stoe wi th i la bo ca be ed iscoeed ithe submissio to its esult

28

The ecoom ic system ouded o isola ti o is a a pd a The techology is based o isolatio, ad the techical pocess solates i tu. om the auto mobi le to teleisio, al l the gd d by the spectacul system ae also its wepos o a costateio cemet o the cod it ios o isol ati o of oel y cods Th espectacle costatl y ediscoes i ts ow a ssu mp tios moe cocetel y



The orgn of the spectce s the oss of the unt of the word nd

the ggntc expnson of the modern spectce express the tott ofths oss: the bstrcton of specf c bor nd the gener bstrcton of the entret of producton re perfect trnsted n the spectce whose mode of being concrete s precse bstrct on n thespce one pt of the word represents itselfbefore he word nd ssuperor to t. Th e spectce s noth ng moe thn the comm on nguge of h s seprt on . Wht t es the spectors together s no morethn n reversbe eton t the ver center whch mntns thersoton. The spectce reuntes t seprte but reuntes t as separate.

T on of sctor o th oft of h contemted s rsu of s on unconsous vy) s expressed t o on y: he more he conem es the ess he ves themo cs rconzng hmsef n the domnnt mges of need �derstnds h s own ex sce nd hs own desres The ex·tny of he spectc n reton to the ctve mn ppers n ths on estures no onger hs but those of nother who repesensthem to h m T s s hy he spector does not fe t home nwhereuse he specte s everywhere

31

The worker does not produce hmsef he poduces n ndependenor The succe of ths prou l undnce returns ove he



producer as an abundance of dspossesson l te tme and space os world ecome stange to m wt te accumu laton o s al enatedproducts Te spectac e s te map o ts new world a map wc

covers precse ly ts terr tory Te very powers w c escaped us showhemseles to us n a ter orce

3

Te spectacle w t n socety corresponds to a concrete manu actureo a enaton Economc expanso s man y te expanson o precseyts ndu stra product on Tat wc grows wt te econom y movn gor tse can on y e te a enaton wc was precsey at ts o rg n

33

man separatd rom s product mse produces a l l t deta lso s word wt ever ncreasng power, and tus nds msel evermore separated rom s worl Te more s l e s now s produ ct,te more e s separated rom s e

34

Te spectace s captal to suc a degree o accumuaton tat t e

comes an mage





II. TH OMMODITY

AA

SPCTACLE

For i is only a he uiver

caegory of oal social beg h

the commodiy can b uerstood

in is au thenic esnce I i onl

in his conex ha reificaion whch

arises from he commodi relaonacquires a decisive meain as uc

for the objecive evoluion of so-

ciety as for he aiude of men

towards i, for he submissn of

their consciousness o he fors in

which this reification is expres

. This submission also grows be

cause of the fac tha e more the

rationalizaion and mechanization

of the work process increases, the

more the activity of he worker

los its character as activity and

becomes a contempative attitude

Lukacs

H istory and Class Consciousness.



5

n e eenial oveen o e pecace, wic coni o akingup wiin iel a a exied in uan aciviy in a uid state inorder o poe i in a coaguaed ae, a ing wic ave becoee excuive value by eir fomulation in 'negatie o lived value, weecognie our old eney, the commodity, wo know o well ow oee a ir gance oeing rivia and obviou, wile on e conrary i i o coplex and o u o eapyica ubleie

6

Ti i e prncpe o comody ei e doination oocey by nangibe a wel a angibe ing, wic reace i aboue ulien in e pecacle, wee e angible word i replaced by a elecion o iage wc exi above and wic a eae ie ae ecognied a e angble pa exellence

7

Te wod a once preen and aben wc e pecacle makesisible i e wod o e coody donai ng a a i ived nde wod o e coiy i u own as it is becaue i ovemen denica o e esrangemen o en aong eelve andvav er goa poduc

8

The loss of qult so event t l evels o spectcul nguge,



of the obts t prs the behvor t regut mere trstesthe fumet trts of the re proucto whch brushes ret

se the commotform is through through equ to itsef thectegor of the qutttive t s the q utttve wh ch the com-motform eveops t c o eveop wth the qutttve

39

Th s eveopmet wh ch excues the quttve s s eveopmettsef subect to psge to the qu ttve the spectce sg f es

tht t hs crosse the thresho of ts ow buce ths s s ettrue o oc t some pots but s re true o the uverssce whch s the org cotext of the commt cotext wts prcc moemet ecompssg the rth s wor mrket verife

4

The development of productive forces has been the real �'- lcon!du;hstor whch but moifed the coiios of exstece o groups s codtios of surviv exte these c :nc

ecoom c bsis of ther eterprses Wi th tur ecom thecommot sector represete surpus of suiv. T he proucti o ofcommodties whch impes the exchge of vred proucts _ iepedet proucers coud for og tme remi crfprouctcote wthi mgi ecoomic fuctio where its qutttivetruth ws sti mske. However whe comm o it producto e-

the soci cotios o rge sce commerce d of the ccumutioof cpts it seize the tot omi tio of the ecoo m. T cecoom the becme wht the commoit h show itsef to be dur-ig the course o th is coquest process of qut ttve deveopmetThis icest depomet of ecoomc power i the form of the commodit whch trforme hum bor ito commoitbor itowage-labor, cummutve e to buce whch the rimrquesto of survv s uoubte resov but i such w tht t

s costt rescovere; t s pose over gi ech time t hghereve coomic growth frees societies from the tur pressu re wh icheme their irect strugge for survv but t tht poit t s romthe r bertor tht the re ot iberte. The independence of thecommoit ws exteded to the etire ecoom over which it rues.The ecoom trsforms the wor but trsforms t o to wordof ecoom. The pseuoture wth wh ch hu m bor s ieteems tht t be served ifiitum ths service beg uge bsove o b itsef fct cquires the tott of socper missible efforts and projects as its servants. Th undance of com-



modities tat is te commodit relation can e no more tan augmented surial

41

Te domination o te commodit was at irst exerted oer teeconom in an oscue manner; te econom itsel te maeial asi o social lie remained unperceied and not undertood like te amil iar wic emains unknown In a societ were te concree commodit is rare or unusual it is te apparent domination o monew

ic presents itse as an emisar armed wi ull powers wicspeaks i n te na me o an un known orce Wi t te i ndustria l reo lution te diiion o laor in manuactures and mas prouction orte world market te commodit appear in act a a power wiccomes reall to occupy socia i e t i ten ta pol ii cal econ om ake ape a s te dom inan science a nd as te cience o dom i nation

42

Te pectacle is te momen wen e commodi a aained total occupation o social l ie Te reation o te com mod it i n oonl i il e ut one n o longer see ant ing u it te wod one i i world M odern econom ic podu cio n exend i d ictaoi p nie and inenie n e ea in durial ied pl ace i doi



on s alead pesen w a ew sa commodes and as mpealsdomnaon b ones wc ae aead n e deveopmen o poduc-v n ese advanced ones soca space s nvaded b a con nuoussupe mpos on o geo ogca l aes o commo d es A s pon ne second ndusal evouon aenaed consumpon becomes oe masses a suppemena du o al enaed poduc on s all thesold labor o a soce wc globall becomes e total commodty owc e cce mus be con nu ed o s o be done s necessao s oal commod o eun as a agmen o e agmened nd -vdua absoue sepaaed om e poducve oces opeang as anensem ble Tus s ee a e specal ed scence o do m naonmus n un specal e agmens se no soco og psco-

ecncs cbenecs semoog ec wacng ove e seegulaono al l e evels o e pocess

43

Weeas n e pmve pase o capals accumuaon pocaleconom sees n e proletarian on e worer wo mus eceve em n m um nd spensab e o e consevaon o s labo powe wou

eve consdeng m n s esue n s uman s poson oe deas o e do mnan c ass s evesed as soon as e degee o abu n-dance aaned n e poducon o commodes demands a supus ocol aboaon om e woke Ts woke sudden wased o eoal scon wc s c ea sown o m b a e moda es o oganaon and suve lance o poducon nds mse eac da ousdeo poducon seemng eaed as a gown up w a eaous poeness unde e mask o a consume hen the humansm of the commodty akes cage o e esue and uman o e woke smp because polcal econom can and mus now domnae esespees as poltical economy Tus e peeced denal o man asaken cage o e oal o uman exsence



44

T spt is prmnnt opium wr wos im is to mk

ptb t idntifition of goods wit ommoditis nd of tisftio n wit surviv ugmnti ng ord i ng to its own ws But if onsumb surviv is somting wi must ws inrs tis is bus it nvr ss to contan pvaton f tr is noting bondugmntd surviv no point wr it migt stop its growt tis is bus it is not bond privtion but is privtion bom nrid.

45

it utomtion wi is bot t most dvnd stor of modrnndutr nd t mod wr its prti is prft summd up tword of t ommodit must surmount t foowing ontrditiont tni instrmnttion wi ojtiv imints bor mustt t sm tim consv labo as a commodty nd t on sour

of t ommodit n ordr for utomtion or n otr ss xtrmform of inrsin t produtivit of bor not to diminis t tusoi bor nssr for t ntir soit nw jobs must b rtd trtir stor srvis rprsnts n immns tnsion of on-inuous rows of t rm of distribuion nd uog of prsntdommoitis t trtir stor is u s mobi iztion of suppmntr fors wi opportun nountrs t nit for su norgniztion of rrgurd bor in t vr rtifiiit of t ndsfor u ommoditis



Exchange aue cou d o igi nate on y a s an agent of use aue, butits ictoy by means of its own weapons ceated the condtons foits autonomous dom ination Mobi i z ng a h uman use and sezi ng themonopoy of its satisfaction, exchange aue has ended up by drc he pocess of exchange became dentifed with a possbe useand ed uced use to th e mecy of excha nge E xchange a u s thecondottee of use aLe, whch ends up cayng on the wa fo tsef

T dcy val al, ths constant of captast economy, deeops a new fom of piation within augmented suia henew paton s not beated to any extent fom the od penuy snceit equies the paticipaton of most men as wage wokes in the endess pusut of ts attanment, and snce eeyone knows he must sub

mit o die he ea ty of th s back ma ies in the fact that use n tsmost mpoeshed fom (eatg, inhabtng) exsts ony to the extentthat it is mpisoned wthn the usoy weath of augmented sua,the ea basis fo the acceptance of usion i genea in the consumption of moden com mod ties he ea consume becomes a consu meof u sons he commod ty is ths factua y ea i usion, and thespectace s its genea manifestation

8

Use aue which was impcit y contaned in exchange aue, mustnow be expicity pocaimed, in the ineted eaity of the spectace,pecs e y beca use its factua e1 ity s eoded by the oedee opedcommodity economy and because a pseudoustfication becomes necessay fo countefeit ife

9

he sectace s the othe sid e of money : it s th e genea abstactequ aent of a commodit ies But f money has do mi nated society asthe epesentation of the centa equiaence namey as the exchangeabe opety of the aious goods whose uses emained incompaabe,



the spectacle is its developed moden complement, in which the totalityo the commodity wold appeas as a whole, as a geneal equivalence

o what the total ity o the society can be and do The spectacle is themoney which one only looks at because in the spectacle the totalityo use is aleady exchanged o the totality o abstact epesentationThe spectacle is not only the sevant o pseudouse, it is aleady in it-sel the pseudouse o l ie

50

At the moment o eonomi abundance, the concentated esult osocial labo becomes visible and subjugates all eality o appeaance,which is now its poduct Capital is no longe the invisible centewhich diects the mode o poduction: accumu lation speads it to thepeiphey in the om o tang ibl e objects The ent ie expanse o societyis its potait

5

The victoy o the autonomous economy must at the same tme beits deeat The oces which it has un leashed e l im inate the eonomineessit whi ch was the i mm utable basis o eali e societies When economic necessity is eplaced by the necessity o boundless economicdevelopment, the satisaction o pi may u man needs is eplaced by nuninteupted abication o pseudoneeds which ae educed to the

single pseudoneed o maintaining the eign o the autonomous econ-omy Bu t the autonomous economy sepaates itsel oeve om basicneed to the extent that it emeges om the soial unonsious whichdepended on it witho ut knowin g it A that is conscio us is used upThat whic h is u nconscious emain s u nalteab le Bu t once eed, does itnot al l to uin s in its tun? ( eud

52When society discoves that it depends on the economy, the econ-

omy, in eect, depends on it Th is subteanean powe, wh ic h hasgown to the po int o seem in g to be soveeign , has lost i ts powe Thatwhich was the economic it s come the I The subject can onlyemege o society, namely h e sggle with in it e subjectspossible existence hangs on th outcome o the class stuggle whichshows itsel to be the poduct a nd th e poduce o the econo mic oun

dation o h istoy



3

Te consciousness o ese an te esie o consciousness aeientically te poject wic in its negatve o seeks te aolitiono classes tat is te ect possession y te wokes ove all te o-ents o tei activi ty I ts opposite is te society o te spectaclewee te cooity conteplates itsel in a wol wic it asceate





� nw, aimad p s.ufoJd h count!ry/Q.':J

pal t t et t cm ne dvfJ';:�

ad U it " T a r brw;·ar a th matat dalct1 l b tw cOIets?

' l: plar ccp a brs on1pQT maa a " iv $ t fUI7da'1nitl�L[r!"3 i ar si mateat lt; wOltf,X;

a aal la tg tha "t in,to.-;<',.aa mariali ialcic tv draw '"I marai b m a i(a�l

pp T p

rc theidl}C.(/cu,�:a'

cmplx cla rl c i in Chn�amr:Jewd·.

Te R Fa 01 Pe�i

. Sptmbr 21; 964". -: �



5

The setale ke moden soety, s at one unfed and dvdedk e soety t bu ds ts u n ty on tea ng aat Bu t the ontad tonwhen t emeges n the setae s n tun ontaded by a evesaof ts meanng so that the demonstated dvison s untay whe thedemonstated unty s dvided

55

The stugge of owes onsttuted fo the management of the samesooeonom system seads as an offal ontadton but s nfat a eal un tyon a wod sa e as wel as w th in evey natio n

56

The setaula sham stugges of va foms of seaate owe aeat the same t me eal n that they tanslate the unequal and onf tua develoment of the system the eatvey ontadtoy nteests oflasses o subdvisons of asses whh aknowedge the system anddef ne themseves as at i ants wt h n ts owe Just as the develoment of the most advaned eonomy is a onfontaton between iotes the totaitaan management of the eonomy by a State bueauay and the ondton of the ountes withn the shee of oon

aton o semoon ation , a e defned b y onsdeabe sefii tes nth e moda l tes of oduto n and owe These d ffeent oostonsan be esented n the setae by ometely dffeent itea,as absoutely dstnt foms of soety But n tems of the fatuaea ty of the sefi setos the tu th of thei sef ty esdes nthe unvesal system whih enomasses them, the unque movementwh h has made the anet ts fed aita sm

5 7

The soety wh h aes the setae does not d om nate the u ndedeveoed egons onl y by ts eono mi hegemony It dom nates themas the soiety of the spetale. Whee the mateia base is as yet absent,moden soety has aleady invaded the soa sufae of eah ontinent by means of the setale It defi nes the ogam of a u ng lassand esides ove its fomaton Just as it esents seudogoods to be

oveted, so t offes to oa evolutionaes false modes of evolutionThe setale of bueauati owe, whh holds sway ove some in



dusa coues s pecsey a pa of he oa specace s geeapseudoegao ad s suppo The specac e s va ed ocaaos bgs o vew he oaaa specaaos o soca commuco ad admsao hese beg o dssove a he eve of hefucog of he ee sysem o a rl ivisi f spctaculartasks

8

Th e d vs o of specacua asks wh ch peseves h e e ey of heesg ode peseves pacua he doma poe o s deveopme The oo o he specace s w h he ea o he abudaecoomy whch s he souce o he fus whch domae he specacua make spe of he deoogcopoce poecos baesof oca spaces wh auakc peeos

9

The moveme of baaliati ude he shmmeg dvesos o

he specace domaes mode socey he wod ove ad a eveypo whee he deveoped cosumpo o commodes has mupedhe o es ad he obecs o choose fom ap peaace Th e e cs oego ad o he amy (whch ema he pcpa om o he heage of cass powe) ad he moa epesso whch hey assue cabe combed o oe wh he epeaed amao of he oy of thiswodhs wod oy beg poduced pecsey as a pseudooy whchcoa s epesso wh The smug accepace o ha whc h ess ca aso be combed o oe wh puey specacua ebeo

hs asaes he smpe ac ha dssasaco se became a commod y as soo as ecoom c ab ud ace was ab e o eed s pod u

c

o o he eame o such a aw maea

0

By coceag hmsef o hese he mage o a possbe oe

he ceeby he specacua epeseao o a vg huma begcoceaes h s baa y The cod o o he sa s he speca ao o he smigly li he obec of decao wh appaefe whou deph whch mus compesae fo he agmes o poducve specazaos whch ae eay ved Ceeb es e s odeo epese vaed ypes of fe syes ad syes o compehedgsoce y ee o epess hemseves g oba y They caae he accessbe esu of soca labr by mmg he subpoducs of hs abowhch ae magcay aseed above as s goa pwr ad aca

tis decso ad cosumpo whch ae a he begg ad a he



end o an u nd iscussed pocess Tee i t's te govenmenta powewc pesonaies tse n a pseudoceebit ee it 's te sta oconsumption wic popuaies itse as a pseudopowe ove te expeie nced But j ust as te actviti es o te sta ae not ea g oba te ae not ea vaied

6

Te agent o te spectace put on stage as a sta s te opposte ote ndvdua e s te enem o te ndvdua n mse as obvous

as n otes Passng nto te spectace as a mode o dentcatonte agent as enounced a autonomous quates n ode to dentmse wt te genea aw o obedence to te couse o tngse sta o consumpton we beng extena te epesentaton odeent tpes o pesonat sows eac o tese tpes aving equaaccess to te totat o consumpton and ndng sma appnesstee e ceeb t o decs on must possess a compete stock o ecogned u man qua t es Tus between stas oc a d eences aewped out b oca smat te pesupposton o te exceencen evetn g Kuscev became a genea so as to decde on tebatte o Kusk not on te spot but at te twentet annvesa wene was maste o te State Kenned emaned an oato even to tepont o pocamng te euog ove s own tomb snce Teodoeoensen contnued to edt speeces o te successo n te ste wcad caacteed te peson a t o te deceased Te adm iab e peope n wc te sstem pesones tse ae we known o nt bengwat te ae te became geat men b descend ng beneat te ea i t

o te sma est nd v du a e and eveone knows t



62

Fe oe t etular audae, oe otso te utoto o oetg ad uted etle d te utoto o roe (ged ad rred tg) aret oe eue d oerlag, deelo to a trugge o tastcqute deted to ge so to adeo to quttate trialt t er, e ara ooto are rebor; regoal orr are rged it traorig te u l gart o erar c acesto a atat otologal u erort I ts aer, te terab eere o laugae orotato s reooed, olig a budc

teret, ro te ort o coetto to tat o eletios Wereveraudt outo is staled, te ectaular ootio beteeout ad adu t gas portace aog te a acous roles Tereare o adu lt, ater o te r l es Yout, te trasorat o o watest, s o a te carateristic o toe wo are ow youg t a roert o te ecooic syste, te dais o capitalisI t i thngs c ru le ad are youg; w c corot ad reace eacoter

6

It i te unty of msey wic ides uder te spectacu ar oppositio I ared ors o te sae a i eatio strugg e uder asks otot coce, t is because tey are a bu i lt o rea cotrad ict ios wicare repreed Te pectace exists i a concentate or a ffuse ordepedg o te ecessities o te partcuar stage o isery wic it

d ies ad su port I ot cases, it is te sae iage o appy u ii catio surrouded b deso lat o d orror i te traqu il ceter ouappes

6

Te cocetrated spectacle essetialy beogs to bureaucratic capi

talis, ee toug t a be iported as a tecique o state poweri ied backward ecooies, or at certai oets o crisis advaced capita is I act, bureaucratc property itse is cocetratedi te sese tat te id iv id ua l bureaucrat reates to te ower ip ote gobal ecoo oly troug a iterediary, te bureaucratcco u ity, ad ol y as a eber o t s couity urterore,less deeoped oodit productio ao takes o a cocetratedor te co odity w ic te bu reaucrac posesses is te totasoca labor, ad tat wic it es to societ is survival a a wole

Te dctatorp o te bureaucratic ecoo caot eave te ex



plo ed masses any sgn can marg n o coce, snce e bureaucracysel mus coose everyng eernal coces, weer ey concern

ood or musc, already represen e coce o e oal desrucon oe bureaucracy Ts mus be accompan ed by permanen vo enceTe mage o e good wc s mposed wn s specacle gaersup e oaly o wa ocaly ess, and s usually concenraed non e m an , wo s e guaranee o oal aran coeso n Everyone musmagcally deny w s absolue celebry, or dsappear Masero nonconsumpon, e s e eroc mage o an accepable dreconor absolue eploaon wc s n ac prmve accumulaon acceleraed by error every Cnese m us learn Mao and u s be Mao ,

s because he can be nothng else Werever e concenra spec-acle rus, e polce also rules

65

Te duse specacle accompanes e abundance o commodes,e un perurbed deveopmen o modern cap a l sm H ere every commody aken aone s jused n e name o e grandeur o producng e oaly o objecs o wc e specacle s an apologec caa-logue rreconc lab le c la ms see e sage o e al uen economy'suned specacle deren sarcommodes smulaneously supporconradcory projecs or e managemen o socey e specacle oauomobles demands a perec ranspor nework wc desroys oldces, wle e specacle o e cy se requres museumcesTereore e already probemac sasacon wc s supposed ocome rom e consumpton of the ensemble s mmedaely alsedsnce e real consumer can drecly ouc only a successon o rag-mens o s commody appness, ragmens n wc e qualyarbued o e ensembe s obvo usly m ssn g every me

66

Every gven commody gs or sel, canno acknowledge eoers, and aemps o mpose sel everywere as were e onlyone Te specacle, en, s e epc poem o s sruggle, an epcwc canno be concl uded by e al l o an y Troy Te specacle doesno sng e prases o men and er weapons, bu o commodes ander passons n s bl nd srugge every commody pu rsu ng s pas-son, u nconscousy rea l es some ng ger e becom n gworld oe commody, wc s also e becomgcommody o e worldTus, by means o a ruse of commodty reason e specfc o e com

modyorm m oves on owards s abso lue real aon



67

e satisaction no onge given by te use o te abundant commodity is now sougt n ts vau e as a commodiy t is te use of the

commoty beng sucent to tse o te consume tee s egousevo o te soveegn bety o te com mod ity Waves o entusasmo a gven poduct, suppoted and spead by a te means o inomaton , ae tus popagated w t gtn ng speed A cotng sty e emegesom a m a magane pomotes ngt spots wc aunc vaed adse gaget expesses te act tat, at te moment wen te mass ocommodties sides towad abeation, te abeant tse becomes aspeca commod ty Supp ementay gts accom pan y ng pest go us ob

jects wc ae sod o wic ow om excange n te own spee,epesent a manestation o a mystca abandon to te tanscendenceo te com mod ty On e wo co ects te g its w c ave ju st beenmanuactued o coection, accmuates te nulgences of the com-moty a g o ous sgn o s ea pesence among te aitu Re i edma n advetses te poo o s nt imacy w t te com modi ty As i nte convu sions o m aces o te od go us etsism, te et s smo te commod ty somet mes eaces moments o event exataton e on y use wic is st expessed ee is te undamenta u se o

submsson



68

Wou doub e pseudoneed mposed by modern consumpon

canno be opposed by any genune need or desre wc s no sesaped by socey and s sory Bu e abu nan com mody s anabsoue rupure o an organc deveopmen o soca needs Is mecanca accumuaon beraes unmed arcay n e ace owc vng desre s dsarmed Te cum u ave power o nde pendenarcay s oowed everywere by e falsification of social life

69

I n e mage o e socey appy uned by consumpon readvson s ony suspene un e nex nonaccompsmen n econsu mab e Every specc produ c wc mus represen e opeor a dang sorcu o e promsed and o oa consumpon sceremonousy presened as e decsve un Bu as n e case o ensananeous duson o ads o appareny arsocrac rs nameswc are carred by neary a ndvduas o e same age e objecrom wc one expecs a snguar power coud no ave been suggesed or e devoon o masses uness ad been produced n num-bers arge enoug o be consumed massvey Te presgous caracero a produc comes o ony rom s avng been paced or a mo-men a e cener o soca e as e reveaed mysery o e na

goa o producn Te objec wc was presgous n e specac e



beome vuga the moment t ente the houe o the onume atthe a me tme that t ente the houe o a the the oo ate tevea t eenta ovety whh natuay ome to t om the m

ey o t oduton But t aeady anothe obet whh aethe utaton o the ytem and the demand to be anowedged

70

he motue o ataton denoune te by eang teby oowng the hange o odut and the hange o the genea ond ton o odu ton hat whh amed t own de n tve exe

ene wth the mot eret mudene nevethee hange both nthe due etae and n the onentated etae and t theytem a one wh h mut ont nu e Sta n a we a the outmodedommodty ae denouned eey by thoe who moed themEvey ew lie o advetng ao an avowal o the evo u e veya o a gure o totataan owe evea the illsory ommiywhh aoved hm unanmouly and whh wa nothng moe thanan aggomeraton o otude wthout uon

7

Wa the specacle gves as eenal is ounded on cange, and muthange wth t bae e specac le s asol ue y dogmaic and at th eam e ime canno ea l l y acieve any od dogma Noi ng sops or t th e sae wic is naual o i and neveeess e mos conay o is inlnaon

7 2

e u neal u n iy pocla me y e specacle s e mask o e classivision on wc e eal uny o e capials mode o pouconess a w o l ges e pouces o paic pae n e consucon o e wol s al so a w sepaes em om a wi

eaes elons among men lee om e local an naonall ms s also a w pu l ls em apa a wc eq u ies a moepooun aionaly s also a wic nouses e aonaly oeacc e plo iaon an epesson w ceaes e asacpowe o soey ceaes s concee obrty



V.

THE PROLETAIAT AS SUBJECT

ND REPRESENTATION



"

The equal right o a to the goods ad joys of this worldthe desuctio of a auori the etio of al moral

l-there, if oe es to the bottom of thigs is th n fort inrrectio of March 18th ad the charter of the iiousiatio which fuished it with a army.

Parlamentay inquest on theinsurection of March 1 8th.



7 3

The ea veent wh ch suppesses ex stng cnd t ns u es e

scety f the ent f the vcty f the bugese wthn theecny, and vsby afe the pt ca tansat n f th s v cty Thedevepent f pdu ctve fces ade the d eatns f pduct nexpde and a statc de fa s t dust Whateve was absute beces hstca

7

t s by beng hwn nt hsy by havng t patcpate n thewk and he stugges whch ake up hsty that en fnd the-seves b ged t see the eatns n a c ea an ne Ths hsty hasn bect whch s dstnc f ta whch akes pace wthn eventhugh the ast uncnscus etaphysca vsn f the hstca epchcud k a the pducve pgessn thugh whch hsty s dep yed as h stys ga The subje f h sy can be nne the thanhe vng pducng sef becng aste and pssess f ts wd

whch s hsty and exstng as osiousess of is ame.

7

he cass stugges f the ng revoluioaryepoh nauguate bythe se f the buges e devep tgethe wth he houh of hisory,the daectc, the thught whch n nge stps t k f the ean-ng f what s but ses t a knwedge f he dssutn f a hat sand n ts veent d ssves a sepaatn

76

Hege n nge had t ierpre he wd but the rasformaiof he wd By ierprei oly he tansfatn Hege s n y thephilosophial cpen f ph sphy He wants t u ndestand awd hih makes isel Th s hstca thught s as yet n y the cnscusness whh aways aves ate and whch pnunces theusfcan afe the fact Thus has gne beynd sepaat n ny nhouh. The paadx whch cnssts f akng the eanng f aeay depend n ts hstca cpen and a the e te feveang ths eanng as cnsues tsef nt he cpetn f hsy fws f he e fac ha the th n ke f the bu ges evutns f he 7h and h cenues sught n hs phsphy ny a

eoiliaio wh he esuts f hese evutns ven as a ph



•

sphy f the buges evlut t des t expess the ete pcess f th s evl ut , but ly ts fnal ccl usn n th s sese, t snt a ph sphy f the evlut, but the estat (KalKsch heses on Hegel an Revoluion) Hegel d d, f the last te,the wk f the ph lsphe, the g f catn f what exsts but whatexsted f h cud aleady be nthg less than the ttaty f hstcal eent The exeal pst n f thught hang n fact beenpeseed t c d n y be ased by the dent fcatn f thu ght wthan ea e pect f Sp t, abs ute he wh d d what he wanted andwanted what he dd, and whse accpshet cncdes wth thepesent Thus ph sphy , wh ch d es n the thught f h sty, can nw

gfy ts wd ny by enuncng t, snce n de t spea, t ustpesuppse that ths ttal hsty t whch t has educed eeythng saeady cpete, ad that the nly tbuna whee the udgent ftuth cud be gven s csed

7 7

When the petaat anfests by ts wn exstence thugh actsthat ths thught f hsty s nt fgtten, the expsue f the cnc us n s at the sae te the cn fatn f the ethd



78

e oug o oy can only be ed by becomng pacl

oug; and e pacce o e poleaa a a eouonay cla canno be le an ocal concoune opeang on e oalyo wold A l e eoecal cuen o e reoluionar oke 'moemen gew ou o a ccal cononaon w Hege a n ougMax well a ne and Bakunn

79

e nepaable caace o Max' eoy and e Hegean meo el nepaable om e eouonay caace o eoyname ly om u elao n p a been mundeood aneen denounced a e weakne o wa allacouly became a maxtdocrne Benen n Theoreical Socialism and SocialDemocra

Pracce peecy eeal e connecon beween e daecca meod and ocal parisanship by deplong e ncen oeca o e 1847 Manifeso on e mmnence o poleaan eouon n

Gemany: oca aouggeon o eoneou a e po cal onay wo aed cou ld adl y ae ou nd bee wou d bencompeenbe n a Max wo a a me ad aleady eouyuded economc one could no ee n e poduc o a eco e aneca Hegean daecc om wc Max no e aE nge cou ld nee comp eely ee mel n oe me o geneaeeeence a a l e moe aal o m

8

e oeruing c Max bng abo o a ecoey ougane o e ou g o bogeo eo on doe no a y con o pung e maea deeopmen o poduce oce n epace o e oney o e Hege an p mo n g oad enconew e n me obeccaon beng denc o aenaon

a nd oca ond ea ng no c H oy become e no lone an end Max a ne e sepaae poon o Hege n eace o a appen and e conemplaion o any upee exenaagen eoy no no on y a doe Hoee e conempaon o e moeen o e economy n e domnan ogo e pen ocey e unanscended ee o e undialecical pa o Hegel' ac o a cod yem a n ap poba o n ca o e denon o e concep an c no one ne aHeanm o y bec e oeen c ek opa no moe n a eco o a od y o a co



whse echan ca evep ent effectvey nates eveyth ng Maxpect s the pect f a cnscu s h sty The quanttatve whchases n the bn evepent f eey ecnc puctve fces

u st be tansfe nt a qu a tatve h stca apppa t n Thectque of political ecoomy s the fst act f ths ed of rehistyOf a the nstuents f puctn the geatest puctve pwe sthe ev ut nay cass tsef

8 1

That whch csey nks Maxs they wth scentf c thught s theatna unestanng f the fces whch n fact exet theseves nscety But Maxs they s funaetay outsde f scentthught, an t peseves scentfc thught ny by tanscenng :what s n q uest n s an u nestan ng f stuggle and nt f law Weecgnze n y ne scence: the scence f h sty ys The GermaIeolog

2

The uges epch whch wants t gve a entfc funatn th sty veks the fact that the ecn y st ha t gve a h stca fu nat n t ths ence nvey h sty a ca y epens necn c knwege y t the extet that t eans econoc htory The egee t whch the e f hsty n the ecny (thegba pces whch fes ts wn basc entfc peses) cube veke by the vewpnt f entfc bsevatn s shwn bythe vanty f thse sca st cacuatns whch thught they ha estab she the exact pecty f cses hen the cnstant tevetn fthe tate scceee n cpent n g f the effect f tenenc es twacss the e type f easng sees n ths equbu a efntveec c hany The pect f su nt n g the ecn y the p-ect f takn pse f hsty f t ust knwan take nt tsefthe scece f cety t tf be entfc the veenwhch thks t ca nate peet hsty by eans f etfc

kn wee the ev u ty p nt f v ew ens bourgeos

83

The t cet f scas athgh theves hsty e th e ct e f the e st s c a t ht ye c e t t th e etet tht th ey eect h tyey t he ete tk ce we the veet f te ey the t e efect f the cte f hy cet t e



they eected ciece. O the cotay, the utopia thike ae com-pletey domiated by the cietific thouht of ealie cetuie heyou ht the comp letio of th i eeal atioal ytem they d i ot iay way coide themelve diamed pophet, ice they believed ihe ocial powe of ietific poof ad eve, i the cae o SaitSimom, the eizue of powe by ciece. How, aked Somba , "di d theywat to eize thouh tu e what mu t be pr? Nevethee, thecietiic cocepo of the uopia did ot exted o the kowedehat ome ocial oup have ee i the exiti uatio, heoce to maitai it, ad alo the fom of fale cocioue coepodi to uc h pot o h coceptio ema ied ou tide of the

toca eality of the deveopmet of ciece itelf, which wa laeyoieted b the cial ma wh ich came fom uch oup who eected ot oy wha coud be admited, bu ao what could be udied.The utopia ociai, emaii pioe o he m pti citiic truth, coceved thi tut i tem of t pue abact maea imae whch had bee impoed at a much eaie tae of ociety. Soe obeved, o the model o atrmy that the utopiahou te wou d di cove ad demotate e aw of oc ety. hehamo evaed b hem, hote o toy, fow fom a atempo ap o oc ey e cece ea depede o h io T ha mo e o make e vbe wth he exeimeta iocece oewoam, ad he hay de cotat potuate "ay he ocia cece a oe aaoou o that which fa to etia iaioa mecac Matriau pur u thr u prltariat

8

e deemcciec de e hout o a wa pecieye a ouh wc e oce o " deooao eetated itoe eoeca eae e to he woke moveme we he wa tia ve Te comi o the hio c a u bect i t puhed o ut late,ad ecoomic, he hoca cece pa excelece, whch tecea o ua aee he ecess ty o ow u u e eai o Bu wha uhed ou o e ed o heoeica vo h mae i

e evou oa pacce w c h i he o uh o t eatoa become mpota o aety udy ecoomc deveopmet,ad o coiue o acce ue wi a Heea taquity, o thathe eu ema a cemee o ood e o e d cove thatow, accod o he cece o evouo, cciu alwaycms t ad ha o e a u H oy ha how h a we, ada who ho u t a we d d, wee wo. H to ha c ea y how thatthe ae o ecoomc deveome o the coet at a tme waa om be i pe . -j' Ee wa o a i 189 . Touhout hi l e,

a ad ma taed a u ta oi o v ew heo , but the pst o the heo wa caed ou ove he trrai o the dom iat



tught by becng precse n te r f crtques f partcuar dscpnes, prncpay the crtqe f the fundaenta scence f burge s scety, p t ca ecny t s ths ut atn ate acceptd asdef n tve, whch has cnsttuted ar s

The shrtcng f Marxs thery s naturay the shrtcng fthe rev u tnary strugge f the pretarat f hs te The wr ngclass dd nt set ff the peranent revutn n the Gerany f the C u ne was defeated n sat n Revutnary tery thuscannt yet acheve ts w n tta exstence Marxs beng red uced t defendng and carfyn g t w thn the separatn f sch ar y wr n theBrtsh Mu seu , ped a ss n the thry tsef t s precse y thescentfc ustfcatns drawn abut te future f the devepent fthe wrkng cass, and the rganatna practce cbned wth these

ust fcatns, wh ch were t bece the bstaces t pretaran cnscusness at a re advanced stage

6

A the theretca nsuffcency f the senf defense f pretaran revun can be traced n ters f cntent as we as fr fexpstn, t an dentfcatn f te pretarat wth te burgese

fom he sanpon of he evoluo seue of powe



8

Te endency o base a roof of e scenfc vady of rolearan

ower on epee exermens n e as obscures Marx's sorcaloug from e Mne on forcng Marx o suor a ne mageof e develomen of modes of roducon broug on by cla srug-ges wc end eac me "w a revouonary ransformaon of eenre socey or w a muua desrucon of e casses n srugge Bu n e obrvabe realy of sory as Marx observed elsewere e"sac mode of roducon reserved s mmobly n se of al econfronaons aong cass jus as e serf ursngs ever defeaed

e andords nor e save revos of nquy e free men T enear scema os sg o he fac a he bugee he neun c h ee n; a e me me s e ony classfor wc e deveomen of e economy was e cause and e consequence of s a n g old of socey Te me sm l fcao n ed Marxo neglec e economc roe of e Sae n e managemen of a casssocey. f e r s n g bourgeose seemed o berae e economy frome Sae s ony oo ace o e exen a e former Sae wase nsrumen of cass oresson n a c ecn e bourgeose

develoed s auonomous economc ower n e medeval ero ofe weaenng of e Sae a e momen of feuda fragmenaon ofbalanced owers Bu modern Sae wc roug M ercan smbegan o suor e develomen of e bou rgeose and w c f nal lybecame s Se a e m of "asr fare lasr asser was o revea laer a t was endowed w a cenra ower n e calcuaedmanagemen of e ecnc pce Marx was nevereess abe odescrbe n Bnp e oune of e modern sas bureaucracy

e fuson of caa and e Sae e formaon of a "naona owerof caal over abor a ublc force organzed for socal enslavemen "

n wc e bourgeose renounces al sorca lfe wc s no sreducon o e economc sory of ngs and woud le o "be condemnd o e same olcal nongness as oer casses Here esocoocal foundaons of e modern secacle are aready esab-sed negavely defnng e roeara as he n peene hc e

88

Te ony wo casses wc effecvey corresond o Marx's eorye wo ure classes owards wc e enre anayss of Cp eadse bourgeose and e roleara are aso he oy wo revouonarycasses n sory bu n very dfferen cond on s he bourgeo s revouon s over he rolearan revolun s a rojec born on he foun

daton of e rcedng revoluon bu dfferng from qualtaveyBy negecng e gn of he sorcal role of the bourose

I



one masks the concrete originaity of the proetarian project, whichcan atta in noth in g if n ot by carry ng ts own flags and by kn own g the i m mensity of its tasks The bou rgeo isie came to power because it sthe c l ass of the develo pi ng economy. The proletarat cannot tsef be

the power except by becoming the la f The growthof productve forces cannot guarantee such a power, even by the detourof the increasing dpossession which t creates A Jacobin sezure ofpower cannot be its instru ment N o ly can serve the proetariatto disguise ts partial goals into general goals, because it cannot preserveany partial reality which s reay its own

89

I f Mar x, n a given period of h s partcpation n the strugge o theproetarat, expected too much from scientific forecasting, to the pointof creating the intelectual foundation for the usons of economsm,it is k nown that he dd not persona l y succum b to them n a wel lknown etter of December 7, 87 accompanying an artcle where hehimsef criticized Caal an article which Enges would ater present tothe press as the work of an adversary, Mar ceary eposed the mts

of h is own scence : . he j tendency of the author (whichwas perhaps imposed on hm by his political positon and hs past),namely the manner in which he sees and presents to others the utimateresults of the real movement, the real socia process, has no reaton tohs own actua anal yss. Thu s Marx, by denounc ing the tendentousconclusons of his own obective analysis, and by the rony of theperhaps wth reference to the etrascentific choices mposed onhm, at the same time shows the methodologica key of the fusion ofthe two aspects

90

Th e fu son of knowl ede and acton must be rea l zed n the h storcastrugge itself, so that each of these terms places the guarantee o itstruth n the other. The formaton of the proletaran class into a subjectmeans the organzaton of revolutionary struggles and the organizationof socety at the ly mm: it is then that the aal

f must exst, condtions n which the theoryof prax is s conf irmed by becomi ng practical theory Ho wever, th scentral queston of organizaton was the question least develope byrevolutonary theory at the time when the workers movement wasfounded, namey when this theory stil ad the uitary character whchcame from the thou ght of h istory Theory had u ndertaken precseyths task n order to develop a unitary historical a) Th is questions in fact the ocus of y of this theory, alowng the returnof satst and herarchc methods of applcaton borrowed rom the



urs rv u T rs ra za wrkrs v v ass s uca ry av ur v aac a uary ry sara var sca a ara sc s Ts ooca sra r ry ca r a acca vrca uary srca u wc a bray w sv ca ar ss u saus sru wrkrs ca y c rss a sa a ry i Ys srca rs wc aar sru ar rcsy racca u c ry i rr b ru. Ty ar r-rs ry wc av rua rca y soviet was a rca scvry. Y s sc raccas aray s rca ru raa rk

s ssca

9 1

he rs successes o he sruggle o he nernaonal led o reesel ro he conud nluences o he donan deolog hch sured n Bu he deea and represson hch soon encouneredbrough o he oreground a conlc beeen o concepons o he

prolear an reol u on Boh o hese concepons cona ned an aaa denson hrough hch he conscous selemancpaon o heorkn g c lass s a bandoned I n ec he quarrel ch became reconclable beeen Marss and Bakunnss as oedged reerrnga o nce o poer n he reol u onar Ce and o he organ aon ohe presen oeen and hen he pos o ns o e adesares passedro one aspec o he oher he reerd hemle akunn oughhe l lu son o abol s ng classes b he auhoraran u o sae poer

oreeng he reconsuon o a dmnan bureaucrac class and he



dctatshp f the st kwedgeable, thse wh wud be eputedt be such Max wh thught that a atu g pcess sepaabef ecc ctadcts, ad decatc educat f the wk

es, wuld educe the e f the pletaa State t a spe pha flegtatg the ew scal eats psg theseves bectvely,deu ced Baku ad h s f lwes f the auth taa s f a c-spatal elte whch delbeatey paced tself abve the Iteatalad fuated the extavagat desg f psg scety the espsble dctatshp f thse w ae st evlutay, thsewh wu d desgate theselves t be such Baku , fact, ecu tedfl lwes the bass f such a pespectve I vs be p lts thecete f the ppu a st, we ust dect t , t wth a v s be pwe,

but wth the cectve dctatshp f a the alle A dctatshpwtut badge, wthut tte wthut ffca ght, yet a l the epwefu l because t w l l have e f the appeaaces f pwe Thustw deoloe f the wkes ev ut ppsed each the, each ctag a patally tue ctque, but lsg the uty f the thught fhsty, ad sttutg theselves t degca authorte Pwe-ful gazats, lke Gea ScaDecacy ad the Ibea Aach st F edeat fathfu I y seved e the the f these del ges

ad eveywhee the esult was geatly dffeet f what had beedesed

92

The fact f kg at the gal f pletaa evlut as mmed-atel preet aks at ce the geatess ad the weakess f the eaaachst stggle ( ts dvdalst vaats, the petets f aa

chsts ae laughabe) Clectvst aachs etas ly the cclusf the hstcal thght f de class stugges, ad ts abslute de-ad f ths cclus s als taslated t a delbeate cteptf ethd Thu s ts c tque f the poltcal trule has eaed ab-stact, whle ts chce f ecc stuggle s affed ly as a fuc-t f the l lu s f a def tve sl t bught abut by e sgleblw t h s tea , the day f the geeal stke the su ect The aachsts have a deal to realze. Aachs s tll a deolocal

egat f the State ad f c lasses, a ely f the sc al cd tsf sepaate delgy It s the deolo of pure lbert whch equateseveyth g ad wh ch des away wth al l dea f h st cal ev l Th svewpt whch fses all patal deses has gve aachs the etf epeset g the eect f ex st g cd ts fav f the whl ef l fe, ad t a d a pv leged ctcal specal zat b ut ths fusbeg csdeed the absl ute, accd g t dv dal c apce, befets actua ealzat has als cdeed aachs t a cheecet easy e thugh Aachs hs eel y t say ve aga ad t







een ecuited to the movement The u n ion u eaucac s haped eventhose who had een ecuited fom the stugges of industia wokesand who wee themves wokes into okes of ao powe who soda as a com modit fo a u st pice f thei activ it was to etain

some appeaance of eing evoutiona it woud have een necefo capitaism to find itsef convenent unae to suppot ecnomicath is efomism which it to eated po itica i n the ega i stic agittion ofthe sociademocats This tpe of incompatiiit was guaaneed thei science ut histo constant gave the ie to it.

97

Benstein the sociademocat futhest fom poitica ideoog andmost open attached to the methodoog of ougeois science had thehonest to want to demo nstate th e ea it of ts contadictio n TheEngish wokes' efomist movement had aso demonstated it depiv i ng itsef of evo utio na ideoog H oweve the contadict ion wasdefinitive demonstated on histoica deveopment itsef. Thoughfu of iusions in othe espects Benstein had denied that a cisis ofcapitaist poduction woud miacuous foce the hand of sociaists

who wanted to inheit the evoution on this egitimate ite. Themoment of pofound socia upheava which ao with the fist wodwa though fetie with the awakening of consciousne twice demonstated that the sociademocatic hieach had not educated evoutionai, and had in no wa endeed the Geman wokes tt

ca the fist time when the vast maoit of the pat aied to theimpeiaist wa, and then, in defeat, when it squashed the Spatakistevoutionaies The exwoke Eet sti eieved in sin, since he ad-mitted that he hated evoution I i ke sin And the me eade showed

himsef a good pecuso of the sociaist tat which shotafte opposed itsef to the Russian poetaiat as its asoute enemoeove fomuating exact the me pogam of this new aienation"Sociaism means woking a ot."

98

As a Maxist thnke Lenin was no moe than a fatfl and consis-

tent Katkyt who appied the ltay dly of this otho-dox Maxism" to Russian conditions, conditions which did not aowthe efo mi st pactice caied on the Second I ntenatio na n theRussian context, the xtal diection of the poetaiat acting means of a discipined candestine pat suodinated to inteectuaswho had ecome pofessiona evoutionaies" ecomes a pofessionwhich wi not negotiate with an eading pofession of capitaist so-ciet (the aist poitica egime eing in an case unae to offe chan opening which is ased on an advanced stage of capitaist powe. t th eefoe ecame th e f t a lt dct of societ.



99

The ahoiaian ideoogia adiaism o he osheik depoe

i a oe he wod wih he wa and he oap o he soiademoai i nenaiona in he ae o he wa. The ood en o hedemoai isions o he wokes moemen ansomed he eniewod ino a Rssia and oshism eigning oe he is eoiona eah ogh on h is epoh o isis oeed o po eaians oa ands i s h ieah i and ideoogia m ode so ha he o d speakR ssian o he in g ass eni n dd no epoah he Ma ism o heeond nenaiona o ei ng a eo iona deoog o easi ng

o e one

1 00

The me hsta mment when Blshesm tumphed o ien ussa and when saldemoay fought itoous o he odod mas the ompee h of he sate of affas whh s a theheat f he domi naon f he men speta e the eeeaioof the w ng l ass has oppsed tsef a a y t the w n g ass

1 0 1

I n a l l peos eot ions woe Rosa uem ug n Roe Faheof Deeme 2 1 1 91 8, the omatans faed eah ohe d e assagainst ass pogam agans pogam In h e pesent eo lon heoops poeing he od oe dd no ineene une he insigna ofhe l ng l ass u nde he f lag of a soa demoat pat f theenal qesion of eouon ha een poed open and honestapialsm o soalism?he gea mass of he poletaa would oday

hae no dous and no hestaons hus a few das efoe is dest-on he ad ial en of he Geman po etaa dseed he seet



t n ndtn ad bn atd by t pdng ptad t pntatn t kng a ad gaty nt btd t pta a gan atn dn t x t ng d

t a gn apaan n nta tn an anyng b pd pn y and nt y T t nay pntatn t ptaat ad at t tag b bt t an atand t nta ut t gna aatn ty

0

T gan atn t p taat n t B k d bn ut an bakadn and ut t gnatn t naytgg t k nt adand nt nd n tbakadn a a t ndtn ad t ganatn tad t untutnay t nny nta n d at t T patd tat t a tpan k nt n t a t i Rhodus hi sl t 91190 pd a tat ndd t nt dttn t ada nty, ad t ptn t Bk

d pnt and t t a t pnt t t t d a tn y p ta an ut n T a tat n p y pntatn and t dn t k p, utd tBlk paty, ad t paty beome wh i ws, t paty tpopieos o he polei nta y natng t a ppty

1 03 tnty ya t ad tndn an aday

ad xa nd a t n dt n t datn Ca n a tta dbat tat a n at aty_ Ty ad p ntd t takn t bug, t gt t paant aty, td l a nntatd and bat but ady nuup taat T ndt n na l y u nd t lut n n pat,but ba a gn ad nt bn pnt n t ypt t ttan t ut nay bu aay d td tp taat d Stat p and ga ty a n la d natnStty bg utn ad bn pbl t d at d -tat p k and pant ad n an ng T pl taanp t Svt ud nt antan tl utanuly agantt a al andn, agant t natnal and ntnatnaWt atn, and agant t n pntatn xtnald andanatd n t a k paty ablt at t

Stat, t ny, xpn, and n tug t Tty pannt lutn Ttky and Pau, Lnn



adpted n pr 9, was the ny they whh beae e rntres wee the sa deepent the brese was retarded, bt ths thery beae te ny ate the ntdtn the

unnwn atr the ass pwer the bu eauray he nentratn dtatrshp n the hands the supree representatn dey was deended st nsstent y by en n n the n erus nrntat ns the B she d retrate enn was rt eery t e aansths aderres n that he supprted the sutn ped by eaerh es abs ute n rty pwer The deray w h was eptr peasans b mens of he se wu d hae t be ept r wrers as we, whh ed t eepn t r unst eaders unns,and n the entre party and na y up t the tp the party h erarhy

t the t nress, when the Krnstadt Set had been deeated byars and bured under auny enn prnuned the wn nusn aanst the etst bureaurats raned n a rers Opstn, the whh Stan wud ater extend t a peet dsn the wrd ere r dwn there w th a r e, but nt w t the ppst n Wee had enuh ppstn

Ater Krnstadt, at the te the new en py, thebureauray, reann se prpretr a Se piism assuredts pwer nternay by eans a teprary aane wth the peasantry xterna y t deended ts pwer by usn wrers re ented ntthe bureaurat partes the 3rd nternatna as supprts r Ruand p ay, thus sabtan the entre re u tnary eent and supprtn bure s ernents whse ad t needed n nternatna p

ts (the pwer the Kuntan n hna n 9252, the PpuarFr nt n Spa n and n Frane, et ) But the bureaurat sety was tntnue ts petn by exertn terrr n the peasantry n rder trea e the st bruta pr tve apta st au u atn n h stry Thendu stra atn the Sta n eph reveas the rea ty be nd the bu-eu: t s the ntnuatn the pwer the eny, the



aging o the essent ias o ommodit soiet pesei ng omodi tao. t is the po o the i ndependent eonom wh ih o inatessoiet to the p oi nt o eeati ng o its own ends the a dom ination

it eqi es I n othe wods the ogeoisie has eated an a tonomospowe whih so ong as its atonom asts an een do withot aogeoisie The tota itaia n eaa is not the ast owni ng assi n h isto i n the sense o no R izz i it is on a substitute ruing cao the ommodt eono m De i n ing apita ist piate popet isepaed a si mp i ie spodt one wh ih i s ess d iesiied wh ihis onentated into the oetie popet o the eaati assTh is ndedeeoped om o in g ass is a so the epession o eo

nomi ndedeeopment and it has no othe pespetie than to oeome the etadation o th is deeopment in eta n egion s o the wot was the wokes pat oganiz ed aodi ng to the ogeo is mode osepaation wh ih n shed the h ieahiastatist ade o thi s sppementa edi tion o a i ng ass Anton C i ga oed in one ota ns psons that tehnia qestons o oganzation tned ot toe sia qestio ns (Lenin and te Revoution).

1 05

eotonay deoogy the coerence of te separate o whihLn n sm pesnts th gatst ntast attempt ma in ta ni ng onto oe a eaty whh eets t retus to its trut in incoerencewith ta n sm At that pont eo og is no onge a weapon t a goa The e whh s no onge haenged eomes na Rea t as weas the goa d ssoe n the tota taan deoogi a poamation a tsays s a the s t s a oa p m t ism o the spetae whose oeis nethess essent a n th deopment o the wo d spetae Thedeoogy whh s matea ze n this ontet has not eonoatansome th wo as has apitasm whih has aed at the stageo anane t has meey tansomed perception means o thepoie.

1 06

he totataandeooga ass n powe is the powe o an oetned wo the stonge t is the moe it a i ms not to e ist and i tsoe sees aoe a to a m its i ne istene I t s moest on on th ispoint ease ts oa neistene mst aso onde with the necpus utra o histoa deeopment whh one simtaneos owes tots na i e om mand Etended eewhee the eaa mste the cass nvisibe to onsosness as a est a soia ie eomes

a se The soia ogan zation o aso te a sehood ows om thi sndamenta ontaditon.



0

Stalinism was the regn o terror wthn the breacratc cla lhe terrorism at the base o the power o this class mst also strke hsclass becase t possess no jrdcal garantee, no recognied exsenceas owning class, whch it col d extend to every one o ts members. I sreal property s dissmlated; the breacracy became propretorhrogh the path o alse conscosness False consciosness preserves tsabsolte power only by means o ablte terror, where all ral motvesare n a l ly lost he mem bers o the b reacratic class n power have aright o ownership over society only collectively, as participants n a nda mental l ie they have o play the role o a lead in g pro letariat n a

cialist society; hey have to be acors loyal to a script o ideologicald isloya lty Bt eective partci paton n this ly ng bei ng m st see tselrecog ed as a real partc paton. o b reacrat can spport hs rightto power ndvidally, since proving that he's a socialst proletarianwo l d mean presenting h i msel as the opposite o a breacrat, andproving that hes a breacrat is impossible since the oicial trh othe breacracy is that it does not exist hs every breacrat dependsabsoltely on the ctal aat o the ideology whch recogniesthe collective partcipation in its "socialist power" all t bacat t d t alat I all the breacrats taen together decideeverything, the cohesion o ther own class can only be assred by theconcentrat ion o th eir terrorist power in a single person. I n th is personresides the only practical trth o alsehood the indsptablepermanence o its constantly adj sted rontier Sta i n decides wthotappeal who is nally to be a possessing breacrat; in other words whoshold be named "proletarian in power or "traitor in the pay o theM i ado or o Wal l Street." he breacratic atoms i nd the common

essence o their right on y i n the person o Stal in Stal i n is the worldsovereign who in this manner knows himl as the absolte person orthe consciosness o which there i s no hi gher spirit "he soverei gn othe worl has eective conscosness o what he isthe niversa powero eicacyin the destrctive volence which he exerts ainst the Seo his sbjects, the contrastng others." Jst as he is the power thatdenes the terrain o domination he s "the power which ravages thiserra in "

1 08

When ideology having become absolte throgh the posssion oabsolte power changes rom partial knowledge into totaitarian alsehood, the thoght o history is so perectly annihilated that historyitsel can no onger exist at the level o the most empiical knowledge.he totatarian breacratic society lives in a perpetal present where

everything that happened exists or it ony as a place accessibe to its



pol ie. The poe om led N apoleon o d i ein g heeneg o memo om he hone ha ond i oal oneizaionin a pemanen maniplaion o he pa no onl o meaning oa a wel l . he pie paid o hi emani paion om a l l h ioia lea l i i he lo o al l aion al eeene whih i i ndipeni le o he

hstorcal oie apialim I i k nown how mh he ienii appliaion o inane ideolog ha o he Rian eonom i onlhogh he i mpoe o enko. Th e onadiion o h e oali aian eaa ad mi ni ein g an i ndia l ize oie agh eweei need o aional i and i eeion o he aiona l i one o imai n ei ienie wih ega o nomal ap ia l i eelopmen. Theeaa anno ele he qeion o agile he wa apialim ha one and limael i i ineio apialim i inilpodion planned om he op n ed on genealize ni

and ahood.



1 09

Betee the t r ars, the revutary rkers veetas anhate y the t act the Stast ureaucracy a ascst ttaltaras hch ha rre ts r razat rthe tta tara party tre ut Ru ssa Fascs as a etrest e-ese the ures ecy threatee y crss a y pretarasuvers Fascs s a a f captast scety, y ea ns hch ths scety saves tse a ves tsel stpap ratnazat yak n the State tervee assve y ts aaeet Bu t th s rat al zat s se arke y the en se rrat a ty ts easFascs ra es t the eense the a pts a ures ey

hc has ece cservatve (the aly, prperty, the ra rer,the at ), reu t the petteurese a the u ep ye rutey c rs s r eceve y the ptece sc a st rev ut Hever,ascs s t tsel u aeta l y elcal t presets tse as t sa vlet resurectn hch eas partcpat a cu ty e e y archa c pseuvalu es: race, , the eaer Fa s-cs s call-qd aca ts ecpse yths revve the spectacular ctet the st er eans c t an us Thus t s e the actrs n the rat the er spectace, a ts rle the estruct the r ersveent akes t e the uaental rces presetay sc ety Hever , s ce ascs s a ls the st cstl y r preserv the captalst rer, t ust aturally leave the rt the stae t thereat rles playe y captast States t s elate y strer are rata rs the sae rer

1 0

We the ussa ureaucracy nay es aay th the reas ures prperty hch hapere ts rule ver the ecny, hen tevelps ths prperty r ts use, a hen t s recze eteraly a the reat pers, t ats t ey ts rl cally at sup press the ar trary ele et h ch ha ee eerte ver t t eu ces the Sta l s ts r But the eucat reas Stal st, artrary, ueplae a ctualy crrecte, ecause

dlcal l a ca ald Thus the ureaucracyca l eralze ether culturally r pltcal y ecause ts estece as aclass epes n ts elcal ply hch, hatever ts eht,s ts tt e t prperty. The el y has u t lst the pass ts pstve ara tn, ut hat st survves eret trval tyst l has the repressve uct prh t the sl htest c pet , h l the tta ty thuht captve. Tus the ureaucracy su t a ey hch s lner eleve y aye What use

t e terrrst has ece a lauhn atter, ut ths lauhter t can



preeve e a a a e ny y n n e errm w ke e r T pece y a e mmen wen e rea-cacy wan emnae perry n e teran capam revea te a poor relave cap a m J t a t aca rycntrc an t vry enterane nrance cnact cenc preenn prect ecmn a rva he re e n e prc n a c m m y an a nce cke Tprec cke y t e ac tha a nance car e mplcdeology wn te an ay accmpane y an nentey extene eem n pecacar ae cce a pereem wc e-man rrecnc a e wt e reacrac ey

1 1 1

At te preent mment evepmen e reacracy' e e ca prperty a rey c ap n nerntna y. Te pwerwc eae te nanay a a namentay nerntname m a m tha t can n ne preen t ph e c

en eyn every natn a rn er Te neq a ecn m c eve p-ment me reacrace wt cmpetn nteret wh cceee npen her "cam e a ne cnry ha e t tepc n tt cnrntn eween e Ran e an the nee e. m t pn n eery reacracy n pwer r eery a -arn party whch a cnate te pwer et ehn y the Stant per n me nana wrn cae mt w t wn pthThe ecmptn the a ance reacrac mycan rher aravate y man etat n nterna neatn wc eant e ve t te wr wth te Eat Bern wrker' rev ppnhe ecrt w the eman r " vernment tee wrermaneatn wch arey nce e a the way he pwer wr-er cnc n H nary. Hweer the a ecm ptn terecrtc nce n he at ny he e are actr rthe ent ee pment t et he re e n he



pcess f lsing the ade which ectiel suppted it p id ing an i u s un ificatin f a negatin f the eisting de Thisdiisin f spectacua la cmes t an end when the pseudelu-tina e in tu n d iides The spectacu la eement f the c apse fthe wes mement wi l itself cl apse

1 2

The Leni nist i usin has n cntempa ase utside f the aius

Ttsk ist tendencies. Hee the ident if icatin f the p etaian pectwith a hieachic ganizatin f ideolg unwaeing suies theepeience f a i ts esu ts The di stance whic h sepaates Ttski smf eutina citique f the pesent sciet as emits the espectae distance which it eeps with egad t psitins which weeaead false when the wee used in a ea cmat Tts emainedasical in sidait with the high ueaucac unti 1927 seei ng tcaptue it s as t mae it undetake a genine Blshei actin etenall (it is knwn that in de t dissimuate Lenin famus

testa

ment he went s fa as t slandeous disaw his suppte MaEastman, wh had made i t pu ic) . Ttsk was cndemned hisasic pespectie ecause at the mment when the ueaucac ecgnizes itsef in its esult as a cunteeutina class intenall itmust as chse t e effectiel counteelutina etenall inthe name f elutin just as it is at ome Ttss susequentstugge f a Fu th I ntenational contain s the same in cnsistenc A h i s l i fe h e efused t ecgn ize the pwe f a sepaate cass i n the u-

eaucac, ecause duing the second Russian elutin he ecame anu ncndi tin al suppte f the Blshei k fm f gani zati on. WhenLukacs, in 923 shwed that this om was the longsught mediatinetween the and pactice in which te poletaians ae no longespectatos o te eents which appen in t oganizato t consciousl oose and ie these eets he dcd s t mits o



he oshek pa eehng ha he olshek pa as o Ecep fo hs pofond heoeica wok kacs was s an ideoogespeaking in he name of he powe mos gossl eena o he poeaan moemen eleng and makng eliee ha he fond himself

wh hi enie pesonali wihin his powe as f wee hs o Thees of he so made i oos s how h s powe d isowns and sp-pesses is ackes kacs epd iang h imse f who end made ise wh he ca of a cacae eacl wha he had denifed whwh he opposte of hmsef and of wha he had sppoed n Hstoryad Class Coouse kacs s he es poof of he fndamena e wh ich dges al he nel lecals of h s cen wha he respecteacl meases hei own despcable eal Howee enn had

had cal led fo hs pe of i l son ao h s acii in hs iew apol ical pa canno eami ne s mem es o see f hee ae conad cons eween hei ph losoph and he pa pogam The ea pawhose magna poa kacs had psened was coheen on foone pecse and paa l ask o see ae powe.

1 1 3

The neoennis sion of pesenda Tosksm, consan e

posed he eal i of moden ogeos as we l as eacai c capiais socees naal fnds a faoed feld of applcaon in ndedeeoped cones wh ch ae fomal l ind ependen Hee he i s onof some so of sae and eacac socalism s conscios dshedo local ling casses as smply the deology of ecoomc deelopme The hd composion of hese classes is moe o ess clealelaed o a lee on he ogeoiseacac specm The gameswih he wo poles of esing capials powe in he inenaiona

aena and hei ideological compomses (noa wih sam) whichepess he hd ea of he soca ase emoe fom his fnalspodc of deoogca socalism eehng seos ecep he pol ce. A eacac s ae o fom n ng a naonal sggle wihan agaan peasan eol fom ha poin on as in Chna ends oappl he alnis model of indsialao n soceies ess deelopedhan R ssia was n 1 9 1 A eacac ale o ind sia ie he naons a le o consie i se f o of he peieogeoisi e o o of amcades who see powe as n Egp. On ceain po ins, as n A gea a

he egnning of is wa of ndependence he eacac whch conses self as a paasas leadeship dng he sggle seeks heeqlim pon of a compomse n ode o fse wh a weak naonal ogeose. F nal in he fome coloni es of lack Afca wh icheman openl ed o he Ameican and Eopean ogeose a ogeoisi e consies i sel f (sa ll on he ass of he powe of adon alial chefs) by seg the State These cones whee foeign i mpeialism emans he eal mase of he econom ene a sage whee

hecompradors

hae goen an ngenos ae as compensaion fo



hei sae o indigenous podus a ae whih is indepenen in heae o he oal masses u no in he ae o impeia ism Th is is anaii ia ou geoisie whih is no ae o aumu lae u wh ih simpl dlapdaes

he shae o suplu s al ue om oa ao whih eahes ias we as he oeign susidies om he aes o opoaions whihpoe i ease o he oios inapai o hese ou geois asseso uli l he nomal eonomi union o a ougeoisie eah o hemaes a suesion ased on he u eau ai model moe o less adapedo oa peuiaiies and eage o seize he heiage o his oeoisie.u he e suess o a ueaa in is ndamenal po o indsializaion neessail onains he pespeie o is hisoial deea aum u aing apia i aum u aes a poleaia and hs

eaes i s own negai on in a oun whee i did no e e is

1 1 4

I n h is ompe and ei le dee opmen whih has aied he epoho lass suggles owad new ond iions he poeai a o he i ndusiaonies has ompee los he aimaion o is posiie pespeie

and aso in he las anasiss lusns,

u no is ein. I has noeen suppessed I emains i edui l i n ei sene wih i n he i nensiied al ienain o moden apia i sm : i is he i mmense maoi owokes who hae os a l l powe oe he use o hei ies nd who ncehe n hs, edeine hemseles as he poleaia he negaon ohe oe wihi n h is soie The poeaia is oeie enlaged he moemen o disappeaane o he peasan and he eensiono he logi o ao lao o a lage seo o seies and ineeal poessions. I is subjecel ha he poleaia is sil a e

moed om is paial lass onsiousness no on aon whieolla wokes u also among wae wokes who hae as e disoeeon he i mpoene and m siiaion o he od po i is. N eeheesswhen he poleaia disoes ha is own eenalized powe ompeesonsanl o einoe apiais sie no on in he om o islao u also in he om o nions o paies o o he sae powei had il o emanipae isel i aso disoes om onee isoia epeiene ha i is he ass oa opposed o al oneaed e

ena i zaion and a speial izaio n o powe. I ai es he unhch can eae nhng eea e demand o he peanendominaion o he pesen oe he pas and he oa ie o sepaaion . is h is ha ms i nd is siale om in aon No aniae amelioaion o is mise no ilsion o hieah ineaions a lsing e o s dissaisaon ease he poeaia anno eonize sel n a paila won i eeed no n he en f a aua ng I an no eoni e se in epaono a ae nme o wons ee on in e b ng oein eleaed o he man o i



1 1 5

rom the new signs of negtion which mutip in the ecnomicmost dvnced countries, signs which re misunderstood nd fsifie

b spectcur rrngement, one cn red drw the concusion th new epoch hs begun fter the f irst ttempt t workers' subversion,

s now capals abundance whch has faed When ntiunion struggesof Western workers re repressed fir of b unions, nd when rebe ious currents of outh unch their f irst informed protest which d irectimpies rejection of the od speciized poitics, of rt n of diife, we see two sides of new spontneous strugge wh ich begi ns u nder cmnal gu ise. These re the signs of foreru nners of second pro

etrin su t ginst the css societ. When the ost chi d ren of thissti immobie rm repper on this terrin, become oter nd et remin the me, the foow new "Gener Ludd " who, this time,throws them into the destruction of the maches of permed con

sumpon

1 1 6

"The poitic form t st discovered in which the economic ibertion of bor coud be reized " hs in this centur cquired cer outine in the revoutionr workers Councis which concentrte in temseves te functions of decision nd eecution, nd federte withech other b mens of deegtes responsibe to te bse nd revocbet n moment Their ctu eistence hs s et on been briefsketch, immedite fought nd defeted b diferent forces of defensof the css societ, mong which one must often count their own fseconsciousness nnekoek r ight insisted on the fct tht the cho ice

of power of workers' Councis "poses probems" rter thn bringing soution But tis power is precise were the probems of the revou tion of the proetrit cn fi nd their re soution Th is is where teobjective cond itions of hi storic consciousness re reunite Th is iswere direct acve communiction is reized, where speciiztionhierrch nd seprtion end, where the eisting conditions re trnsformed "into conditions of unit." Here the proetrin subject cnemerge from h is strugge ginst contemption is consciousness isequ to the prctic orgniztion which it undertkes ecuse tisconsciousness is itsef inseprbe from coerent intervention in histor

1 1 7

n the power of the Councis, which must interntion suppnt other power, the proetrin movement is its own product nd tisproduct is itse f te producer t is to itsef its own go O n tere is

the spectcur negtion of ife negted in its turn





1 2 1

Te eoutoay ogato a be otg e ta a utayrtque of oety ae y a rtqu e w doe ot opo e wtay fo of epaate power aywee te wod ad a tque poaed gobaly agat a te apet of a eated o a e tetuggle of te reoutoay ogaato agat te a oetyweapo ae otg ote t te c of te obatat teele te eo utoay oga ato aot epodue wt te te odto o eparato ad eray of te doat oetyIt ut truggle otaty agat t deforato te ug petae. Te o y t to part pato te tota deoray o te

eolutoary ogaato te eogto ad efappopato ote oe e of t tque by a t eber a oeee w utbe proed te rta teory a u ad te reato betwee teteoy ad prata atty

1 22

ereag aptalt aeato at a ee ake t eagydffult or worker to eoge ad ae te ow ery tuplag the fro o te a terate o eetg h hmsr r hg ro t te reolu toay orgaato u t eatat t a o o ger cm wh m

1 2

Poletaa reoluto deped etely o te odto tat fote frt te teoy a tellgee of ua pate be reogead l ed by the ae It requ re worke to beoe d aetaad to rbe ter tought to pate Tu t dead ore om wh qlt tha te bourgeo eoluto deaded o tequalfed e wh t delegated to t tak te parta deologal ooue b u l t by a art of te bourgeo a ad te eooy at t

ba t etral pr of oa fe w t la w power The ery deelopet of l a oet to te po t of te petaular orgaao of oe thu lead the reolutoary proet tobeoe vsl what t aready wa l

2

Reou toary theory ow the eey of a l l reol utoa ry eologad os



"0 , gentlemen the time f life j srt( �And if we live, we live !o tread on kings . "

Shakespeare

Henry IY�" "



1 25

Man, the negatve beng wh unquel t the extent that he sup-

presses Be ng, s dentcal t t e Ma ns appr pratn f h s wn nature s at the e te hs seure f the deplent f the unverse.Hstr s tself a real part f atal hty, f the transfratn fnature nt an Ma rx) . I nversel th s "natural h str" has n actualexstence ther than thrugh te prcess f huan hstr, the nlpart whch captures ths hstrcal ttalt le the dern telepewhse sght captures, tm the retreat f nebulae at the perpherf the u n verse H str has a as exsted, but nt al was n a hstr-cal fr The tepra l zat n f an as efected trugh the ed atn f a scet s eq uva lent t a hu an zat n f te. The un cn-scus veent f te anfests tself and bm t wthn htrcal cnusness

Hstrca mveent as such, thuh stll hdden, begns n the slwand ntan e frat n f the rea nature f an," th s nature brnth n hu man h strw th n the generatng actn f huan scet",et the scet, hch has develped a technlg and a language, scnscus nl a perpetua present, thugh t s tsel aread the pr-d uct ts n h str. A l l n wledge l ted t the er f theldest s aas carred b the Nether death nr prcreatn a



gasped as a aw o e e eans o e e a osed spaen a oe ope e oes onos o e s as sae o negae ea does no see i n e a w appens a w s ep sa soie ogan zes e n es os edae epene o nae on e ode o a e

Cia i aead donaes he epeiene o nomadi popaions ease he sae ond ons epea esees eoe e nomadsa ee mo men o ei one Hege noes a he wanden g onomads s on oma ease i s im i o n om spaes Tesoe w i i n g ise in pae oa gies spae a onen aanging indiidaized paes s nds ise enosed win e ineo o h is oa izaion The empoa en o sm i a paes now

eomes he pe en o ime in e me pae he epeiion o aseies o geses Th e anii on om pasoa nomadsm o sedenaagi e is he end o e az ie w io onen e egi nn ngo ao. Te agaia n mode o podon n genea dom inaed he m o he seasons is e ass o onsied ia ime Eeni is iteal o i i is e en o he me ee oneah. M i s e nia onson o he ogh w i gaanees he enie osmi ode sondng he ode wih his soiehas in a a ead eaed wi in is on es



1 28

The ca apppatn f te the pdctn f an by hanab, deep wthn a scety dded nt casses The pwe whch

cnttte tef abe the peny f the scety f cycca te theca whch ganzes ths sca ab and apppates the ted s-p ae, at the e te apppates the temoral surlus valuef t gan at n f ca t e t pssese f tef a ne the eesbe t e f the ng. The n y weath whch ca n exst n cn-centated f wthn the ea f pwe s ateay spent n spt feat and a n the f f a qandeng f the historical timeat the surface of socet The wne f htca sps ae ps-

ses the knwedge and the enyent f ed eents Th t e,sepaated f the cecte ganzatn f te whch pednatewth the epette pdctn at the bass f sca fe, fws abe tswn statc c n ty Ths the te f adente and wa n wh chthe ate f the cyc ca scety taee the pena h sty, and ts a the te whch appeas n cnfntat n wth fegn c n te, n the deangeent f the nchangeab e de f the scety H -ty then pase befe en as an a en fact, a that wh ch they neewanted and agan st wh ch they thght thesees ptected B t

thgh th det as etns the negate anxety f the hanwhch had been at the ey gn f the ente deepent whch hadfaen aeep



1 29

C ia tim in itf i tim withut nf t ut c f i i nta d wit h in thi i nfan f ti m : h it fi t f a tugg t b

hi t w ith n th patia at ii t f th mat Th i hi up-fa at h ib t mmnt nttut pc thtm t u up with in th i nti f th nhautib im f cc icait

1 30

Fzn it a th whih wd dwn th hica ac

tiit th imit, th whih pt thi pptin t h ua adhuman ninmnt, and thi intna ppitin, in a cna qui i bi um f th m d iit f nt itut i n tab ihd f h pup dmnat th f i b i it f th fatin f hu mn nauthi dmntatin bcm biu n f th tna b fth thngi wh res fm hi tia t im . I n ah f th it a dfin iti tutui ng udd hang. Ab u cfmimn iti ng cia patic, with whih a uma n pib i it idntfid f a t im ha n tna im it th than th fa f fa g bai n fm a ima it. H , in d t ma n hu m n mu main th am

1 3 1

Th bith f pitia pw, whih m t b ad th atgat hngia utin (at in, at th thhd f a pidwhih wud nt pin pfund h unti th appaan f

indut, a ma th mmnt whn bd ti bgin t dFm thn n th uin f gnatn a th ph f puia natu and bm intd t nt, t h un fpw I ib t m i nw th ti m f th wh u , ad dnati a i t f i mau Wi ti ng i it wapn n wi ti ng anguag atta in it fu indpndn t a it f mdi atng btwn niunut thi indpdn i idntia t th gna indpndn f paat pw a th mdiati n whih f it With w i ng thappa a niun whih i n ng aid and tanmittd dit amng th iin g: an impersnal memory th mm f thadminitatin f it. "Wting a th thught f th tat ah i a it mm . (Na i ) .

1 3

Th hni i th pi n f th i ib ti m f pw. I ti a th intumnt whih p th untaiti pgin f

thi ti m Ti m bgi n with th nd f th pd, inc th i i n



tation o time ollapses with the oe o ee patila powe allingbak to the ndieent ob lii on o the onl lial t i me known to thepeasant masses who ding the ollapse o empies and thei honologies nee hange. The owers of istory hae gien time a meai:a di etio n whih is also a sign iiation t ths h sto dep los itseland smbs sepaatel ; i t leaes the ndel n g soet nhanged bease t is peisel that wh ih emai ns sepaated om ommon eal tThis is wh we ede the histo o Oiental empies to the histo oel igions the honolog ies wh ih hae al len to i ns let no moe thanthe appaentl atonomos histo o the il lsions whih enelopedthem. The mastes who make istory teir private property nde thepoteton o mth possess ist o a l l a p iate owneshi p o the mode

o l l sion in Ch ina and Egpt the long held a monopol oe the mmotalt o the so; the ist known dnasties ae an imagina aangement o the past. t th s i l l so possesson o the mastes s al sothe entie possib e possession at that moment o a ommon h isto ando thei own h isto. The gowth o the eal h isoial powe goes togethe wth a popl ai zaton o mthal and l so possesson. A llth is lows om th e sim pl e at that to the etent that t he mastes tookt pon themseles to gaantee the pemanene o l a l t im e mthiall as n the tes o the seasons o Chinese empeos the themseles ahieed a elatie l i beation om l ial ti me

1 33

he d neplaned honolog o dne powe spekin sseans whh wants to e ndestood on as the eathl eeton o

the om mandme nts o mh an e smo nted and eome onsoshiso ths eqes that eal patipaton in histo e lied b etended gops Ot o ths patial omm nat ion among those whorecoied eac oter as possessos o a singa pesent who epeiened the qaatie ihness o eents as the atit and as thep lae whee he l iedthe epoha ises the geneal langage o hi stoial omm n iaion. Those o whom i eesibl e t ime has ei steddsoe wthn it the memorable as well as the meace of foretti:H eodots o Ha l anasss hee pesents the es lts o h i s std so

that t ime ma not abol sh the woks o men . . "

1 34

Reasoning abot hso s nsepaabl reasoi about powerG ee was he momen when powe and its hange wee d ssd andndesood the democracy of te masters o iet. Geek ond itonswee he nese o the ondtons k nown to th e despoti ate wheepowe seles s aonts on wth t wt n the naessb le ob



cuty of ts densest po nt : though lce evli, whch s placedeond t he pal e of d scu sson by success o fa l ue a l ke Howeve tepowe shaed aong the Geek countes exsted onl wth the exedire of a socal lfe whose poducton eaned sepaate and statc

w th n the sev le class On ly those who do not wok l ve I n the dv-on aong the Geek countes and n the stuggle to explot fo-en c tes the p nc pl e of sepaato n wh ch n tenal ly gounded each oft was extena l ed Geece, whch had deaed of un vel h stoy,dd not ucceed n u n fy ng tself n the face of nvason o even n u n -f ng the calendas of ts ndependent c tes I n G eece h stocal t ebcae conscous but not yet conscous of tself

1 35e the d appeaance of te loca ll y favoabl e condt ons known to

h eek co u n t es the egesson of wsten h stoca l t hought wasnt accopaned by a ehabl taton of ancent thc oganatonsOu f the confontatons of the edteanean populatons out of thefoton and collapse of the Roan State, appeaed semihisrilliis wh ch becae fu ndaental factos n the n ew conscousness of e, nd n the new ao of sepaate powe

1 36

T onothestc egons wee a copos between yth andoy between cyccal te whch stl l donated poducton and eeble t e whee popu lat ons confont each othe and egoup Te g ons whch gew out of udas ae a u nvel abstact ogn ton es e whch s emoaze opened to al but n the

eal f l l uon T e s tota y oented towad a sng e na een" K ngdo of Go s nea hese e gon s wee on on e eso o so an esa se em sees ee ee e s esee temselves n aa opposon o so em soae go esab ses qa ae po n o epae n me e o s e g o Moam me s ees e me no nan aa am aon w n sam an ake e sape o a onqeso n san o e R eomaon e sape o an nease o apa s n a nee n e gos o e epeaon n e m ew m nses o enane o e en ne oe wo e epean o e as gm en Een am e o o a e s ose s e eemen w o s ak e ees mew sppesses so wn so pan o e

oher side of irreversible ime as a p e pna e emen n w a me enee an ao s osse w s n eans o e me a passes we ene no e een w oes nopass.



3

The midde age, th ncomplete mythca wod whoe pefectonay outide it, i the mome nt when cyclca time, whch tl l egn oe

the geate pat of poducon, i ea ly chewed away by h toy A cetain eveibe tempoaity ecognzed ndidualy n eeyone, nthe ucceion of tage o f i fe, in the conideaton of ife a a joue

a paage with no etun though a wod whoe meaning le elewhee the ilgrm i the man who eave cyccal tme to be actuallythi tave e that eeyone ymbo ca ly Peonal h toc l fet fnd it fufilment n the phee of powe, wthn patcpatnin the tugge led by powe and n the tuggle of dpute epowe; bt the evebe time of powe haed to infnty undthe genea unificaton of the oiented time of the Chtian ea, n awod of armed faith whee the game of the mate eole andfde ty and the cha l enge of owed fdelity h feudal ocety, nout of the encounte of the oganzatonal tuctue of the cn-queng amy a t deelod dung the conquet and of the pcte foce found n the conqueed county (Geman de% )and nthe oganzaton of thee poducte foce one mut count the egou anguagedded the domnaton of ocety between the Chc

and the tate powe whch wa n tun ubdded in the comple eton of uzeenty and alage of tetoal tenue and uban c-mu ne Wit hn th dety of pob le htocal l fe, the eeletme whc unconcouly caed the undelyng cety, the te edby the bogeoiie n the poducton of commodte, the fundatnand expanon of cte, the commecal doey of the Eathpact-cal epeimentation whch foee detoyed all mythcal oganzatnof the comoowy eea telf a the unknown wok f tepoch, when the geat offcial htocal undetakng of th wold col-laped wth the Cude

38

At the decne of the middle age, the eeble tme whch nadeocety felt, by the conoune attached to the ancent ode, n thefom of an obeon wth death It i the meancholy of the d lutnof a wold, the at whch the ecuty of myth tll gae balance tohitoy and fo th meancholy eveythng eathly end up meel bbeing coupted The geat eolt of te Eu opean pean t ae athe attempt t answr histor, whch olently pu led them out of tepatachal l eep whch had guaanteed the feudal tuteage h themienaan utopa of teestrial ealization f aadi, wh ch e





1 40

The cnstant veent f nplzatn f htl l fe by teState f the abslute nachy tantnal f twad cpednatn by the buge cla bng nt clea vew the ne evebl e t e f the bu gee The buge e t ed t o imwh ch nl y nw l beated f the cycl cal W th the bu gee,wk bece or hich tfom hitoric coditio The b ge e the ft dnant cla f whch lab a value n ebugee whch uppee al l pv lege whch ecgne n ewh ch de nt flw f the expl tatn f lab ha july denedwth lab t wn valu e a a d nant cla and ha ade the pg

f lab t wn pge The cla wh ch accuu late c eand captal cntnually dfe natue by dfyng lab telf bV leah n g t pdu ctvty l l cal l fe ha al eady been cncentaedwthn the naental pvety f the Cut tng f the cdtate ad ntatn whch cu l nate n the vcatn f k ng an l lpatcu la htcal l bety ha had t cnent t be l t Th e l bet fthe eveble tepal gae f the nble cnued n the atlt battle wth the wa f the Fnde the nuectn f teSctch f Cha leEdwad The wld ha cha nged at t t



1 1

Te cry f e buree e y f ofouny hioia

time, becue e me f cmc pruc wc rfrmcey c uu y frm e m up S rr pruc rem e prcp br e cycc me wc rempree e r f cey ure e cue frce f trai-ton w c p meme u e rreerbe me f e bureecmy erpe ee ee eery crer f e be Hrywc u e eeme be y e meme f u fe m c u w wre e ry f ee w

uer e genea movemet eere meme u re crfce Te ry w c cer fu pc ecmy w kw f e eece f wc bee u ccu bu eeree rem e u c cu w c c br e f y I y b pre ry ewf y m e by e, e cm my ec my emcrze

Te ry wc pree e ep f cey e be e urfce T e r um p f reerb e me memrp e time thng becue e wep f cry wprecey e m pruc f bec ccr e w f ecmm y. Te m pruc wc ecm c eepm e r-fere frm uuru rcy y cump erefre trybu y e frm f e ry f e brc meme f wc me qu e ue f fe W e e er er cyc c

me uppre rw pr f rc me e by u rup, e m f e rreerbe me f pruc e c y e me e me



3

Thu the bougeoe made ow to ocety ad poed o t aevebe htocal tme but efue ocety t use Tee wa h·

toy but thee o moebecaue the caof owe o the ecoomywhch caot bea wth ecmc hst, mut ao puh bac a adect meace a l othe eveb e ue o tme Te dom at camade up of spcalsts the psss f thgs who ae themevetheefoe a poeo of thg mut l t fate wth the peevatoof th eed htoy, wth te pemaece of a ew mmobty thhst Fo the ft tme the woe at the bae of cety otmatea ly a stag t hst, becaue t ow te bae that eve

by move ocety I the demad to lve the hoca tme whc mae the poletaat fd the mpe uogetabe cete o t evol utoay poect ad evey oe of the attemt t ow boe tealze th poect ma a pot o poble depatue fo ew htocal

44

The eveble tme of the bougeoe mate of powe at ft pted telf ude t pope ame a a ablute og Yea of thRep ub c But the evolu toay deology of geea bety wh ch hadetoyed the at emade of the mythca ogazato of vaue adthe ete tadtoal egulato of ocety aeady made vbe the eawll whch t had cothed Roma de: the lbet f eealedcmmce The commodty ocety ow dcoveg that t had to ecotuct the pavty whch t had ae fudametally to etab

t ow pue eg fd that

Chtaty wth t cultus of abtacman . . the mot fttg fom of e o Capta Th u the bouge etabl h a compom wth th el go, a compom whchal expe tlf the petato of t me t ow caleda abadon, t eveble tme etu to uwd wth the Chta eawho scceo t cotnue

1 5

Wt te deelopment of captalm, evebe tme un n aworld a Unel hstoy become a ealty bu the entewold s teed u nd e te development of th tme But th h toyc s eeee at one t me the me, tl l only the n tehto-l eul of stoy t s te tme of econ om c poducton cut up ntoul bt ment s mneted ove te ete planet at me da U n eble t me te tme of te wod ma

cll o te old ptle



The evesbe tme of poton s fst of al the mease of om·

mo tes Theefoe the t m e off y affm ove the ente expanseof the globe as the general time of socety, sgnfyng ony the spea n teests wh h onsttt t is nly patcular tme.



We have nothing of our own but time,

which is even enjoyed b tho who ha no res

Balthasar G RA CI AN

L'Homme de cour.



VI . SPCACU LR TI M E



7

The tme of poducton coodtytme an nfnte accumuaton of equ valent nteva It s he abtacton of eve e t mewhee all the egment of the comete mut ony pove the quanttatve equa l ty Th tme eal ty exacty what t n t ex

changeable chaacte I t n th s cal dom naton by com mod tytme

that "tme eveythng m s othng; he at mot the caca ofme" (Pverty f Phlshy) t devalu tme the complete nveon of tme a "the feld of hmn developmet

8

Te geneal tme of human nodevelopment ao ext n the complementay fom of a cnsumabe tme whch etun to the day lfe

of the ocety wth th detemed poducton a a seudcyclcal tme

149

Pudocyclca tme n fact moe than the cnsumable dsgu

of the commodtytme of poduo I t conta n the eent al pope

te of commodtytme mel mogeneou exchangeabe unt andthe suppeon of the qual ttv eon Bu t beng the ubpoductof commodty tme detned o edg concete daly feand tomatanng th etadaton must be chag wth peudovauatonand mut eem o be a equence of flely ndvdualzed moment

50

The peudocyclcal tme of e economc uvval the tme ofcumpto of augmeted uvl wee what ved day depv of decon and subec e to the natual ode ut toe pudonue develope lete bo; and thu th tmenatay ecove he ance clcl hythm whch egulated thesuvvl of pedutal soce Pseudoccl cl tme lean o thel s f ccll t the me tme compoe ewlos mbtos ght wok d weekl est te

e vts



51

docycica im i a ime tansfomed by ndsty The me

which ha i bai in h podcto o commodiie i l a conmab commiy which incud evyhig pvouy (dng thepha o diolion o h old unty ociy) diinguihed ino pva i conom ic ie pol ica ie A h conu mab i m o modn ociy come o b eaed a aw maea o vaied nw pod-c which impo hemv on e mak a o ociay ogaizd m A poduc which aay exi i a om which mke iab o compion can nvtele in i u become a aw maia o anohe podc. (Cata/

5

i mo advancd eco cocenad capialim oin ttowad h a o bock o copley quippd im each owhich coni a ingl ued cmodiy which ha ingaed a

ca n n mbe o vaied com mod I n h xpand in g conomy ovice and i hi give ie to h oma o cacua paymen i which vyhing' ncu o a pcaca nvonmeh cociv pdodpacmn vacaion bcipion o cula conpi ad h ae o ibiiy i i h m o pa-io a conva o ad ncont wi ponaii i o opcaca commdiy which can obvioy pa ony a a nciono h ac povy o copon aii a bviouy iamng h pioaic o h modeizaion o a by bing payab

o cedi

5

Comab pudocycica ime pcacua ime a onc a him o h compion o ima he lmi en ad s m-ag o h c mpio o i me in te oad n i o cmpion imag h mium o l commodie i inpaby t · �

ied wh h inumn o h tcle lly ak a wl h goal which iumt pt globally a he plac ad hecnal apc o paicu la conuton : i k now ha e vig o im conaly ough by m ceyhh h omo he pd o apo vehcle o e u o ui -ivel y ad o he poulto U ted Stae b t t tt



eey the ctepat f teevs ccupes a aeage f thee tsx hus a day e sca age f the csu pt f t e tus exc usvey d ated by ets f esue ad acat etsepeseted at a istane ad desabe by pstuate as ae spectac

u a cd tes Th s c ty s hee exp ct y gve as the et f ea fe whse cycca etu s awa ted But ee these assged ets f fe t s aga the spectac e wh ch s t be see adepduce, atta g a e tese degee That wh ch was peseted as geue fe s expsed as spy e enuinel spetaullife

54

Ths poc whch shws tsef ts t e as be g esset a y th suddeetu f u t p e fest v t es s at the sae te a ech wthut festvas What ha bee the mom of pat c ipat f a cuty the uus expedtue f l if th cyc ca t e s pssb e fthe scety wth ut c u ty a w thut ux uy Whe s u ga

ed pseufestas pades f the dague a the gft cte asupus f ecc expedtue, they y ead t decept awaysc pea by pomi of a e ecept The e ts useva u s u ce e ig claim of e sua te ae the spectace The eaty f im a bee epaced by the adetisement f te

55

ile coumpio of cyclical im i aci ocii wa coie wi eal labo of h ocii peudocyclical cumpio of dvloped ecoomy s i coadicio wi e abac ivibl im f i poducio il cycl ical i m as theime of immobil lluio ally lived pcacula im i e im fcagig ealiy livd i illuo

56

Ta wic i coaly ew i he poc f puct f thsi o foud i coumpio whch ma the expaded iioo e me Becaue dead labo coiu o ate ivig laboi pcacula me h pas domae e pe



5

Another de of the defcency of general hstorcal lfe that nd-

vd ual l fe a yet ha no hstory The pseudoevent wh ch take place nthe pectacu lar dramatzaton have not been l ved b y thoe nformed ofthem furthermore they are lost n the nflaton of ther sudden replace-ment at every pu le of the pectacul ar mach nery Fu rthermore thatwhch realy lved has no relaton to the offcal rreverble tme ofocety and n drect oppoton t the peudocyclcal rhythm of theconsum able ubproduct of th t me Th nd vd ual experence ofeperate daly lfe reman wthout language wthout concept wthoutcrt cal ace to t on pat wh c h has been left nowhere t not

comm un cated It not unde rstoo and fortten to the proft offale pectacular memory of the unmemorable

58

he pectacle a the preent ocal organzaton of the paraly ofhtory and memory of the abandonment of htory bult on the foundaton of htorcal tme the

al m



1 59

The conition equie fo eucing okes to the sttus of feepouces n consmes of commoit time s l x m The etun of time s spectcu time i not become possibe nti fte this fist epossession of the pouce

1 60

The ieucibe bioogic pt hich emins ithin bo s muchi the epenence on the tu cce of kig seep s in the fctof iniiu ieesibe time i the epenite of ife become nomoe thn l fom the iepoi nt of moen po uctio n Assuch these eements e negecte in the offici pocmtions of themoemet of pouction n in the consum b e tophies h ich e thei b e tnstion of this incessnt icto. I mmob i ie i n the f si

fi e cente of the moement o f its o the consciousness of thespectto no onge knos in its ife pssge tos its eition tos its eth Whoee hs en oun ce the epen itu e of hi s ifecn no onge mit his eth Lifeinsunce etisements meesuggest tht h e is gu i t of i g ithou h i ng in sue the eg tioof the sst fte this economic oss n the eisement of them y 3 insists on his cpcit to mintin in this enconte the getest possibe nmbe of of ife. On othe fonts of eising bombment it is stict fobien togo o O ne ou he to nge fo ech n fo outhcpit hich fo hing been use in meioce cnot petento cquie the ube n cumtie eit of finnci cpit. hissoci bsence of eth is ientic to the soci bsece of ife

1 6 1

Time is the y ietion s Hege shoe it is the enionment hee the subject eizes himsef b osing himsef hee he becomes othe in oe to become t h imsef But its opposite is pecise the ominnt iention hich is unegone b the poce ofn l In th is l l the societ tht t he ootseptes the sbject fom the ctiit it tkes fom him septes him

fist of fom h is on ti me Sumountbe soci iention is pecise tht hich pohibts n petifies the possibiities n isks of anation in time



2

Und h aan md which annl and comos hmslvs a

h fil sfac of conmlad sdocyclical im, h d tlof h och i� alays wihin ha hich is oind by h obvios andsc ncssiy of h voion

3

Th naal basis of im h xincd givn of h fow of im

bcoms hman and social by xising f m I is h limid sao han acic labo a din sags ha has ni no hmanid and also dhmanid im as cyclical im and saa ivsib l m of cono mi c od cion Th voli onay oc of aclasslss sociy o a gnalid hisoical lif is h oc of awihing away o h social mas of im o h bni o a layl modl of ivsibl i m of nd ivi dal s and gos a modl i nwhich dpdt fdtd tm a sim lnosly sn I is hogam of a oal aliaion wihin h conx of im, o comm

nism which ssss all ha iss indndnly of individals

1 4

Th wold alady osssss h dam of a im whos consciosnss i ms now ssss in od o acaly liv i.







65

Captat prductn ha unfed pace whch n nger bundedby externa cete Th u n fcatn at the ae t e an extenveand ntenve prce f blzto The accu u atn f cdt e prduced n the aebl y l ne fr the abtract pace f the a rketwh ch brke thrugh a l reg nal a nd ega barrer and a the crprateretrctn f the dde age that preerved the qult f craft prductn al detryed the autny and q ua ty f pace Th pwer f hgenatn the heavy artl lery whch brught abut thefal f a the wa f Chna

66

t n rder t bece ever re dentca t te f n rder t cn-tnue vng tward ble ntny that the ree pce o thecommodt neverthee cntantly dfed and recntructed

6

Th cety whch enate gegraphcal dtance reprduce dtance nternal l y a pectacu lar eperatn



68

A bypduct the crcuatn cdte tu h uan crcuatn cndeed a cnuptn bacay reduced t the eue gng t ee what ha bece bana he ecnc rgan atn the equ entatn d erent pace a ready n te the guaantee ther uivalc he ae dernatn whch ha reed ter trae ha a reed r t the reaty pace

69

he cety whch hape t entre ennent ha ctcted tpeca technque r wkng the cncete bae th cectn takt wn terty U ban th tak ng hd the natua adhuan ennent by capta devepng gca y nt abutednatn t can and ut nw eake the ttaty pace a iso sasi

70

he captat necety ated by urban a a be eeng e can be expeedby the ue Hege an tea the ab ute pednance the peaceu cextence pace e the ete bec ng n the paage te

7

a the techn ca ce cap ta can be undertd a t the akng epaatn n the cae uban we cnnt theba thee techn ca ce the treatnt the earth wh ch u tabe the depyent the ey technqu e of spaaio

72

Uban the den accphent the unnterupted takwh ch aeguad ca pwer the preerat n the atatn wke wh u ban cnd tn prductn had dangeruy ouhoh he cntant tugge whch had t be ught agant a apect the pb ty encunter nd t prv eged ed n urban he exetn a etab hed pwer after the exper ence theFrench Reutn t enage the ean antanng rde n the



steets al culates te suppess te steet Wt theass eda c u cat ve geat d staces the s at the

ppuat shwed tsel a uc e ecet eas ct sasLes Mud Th iy Hiory, descbn heeth a e-wa wld Bu t the geea veet sat whch s the ea t ubas ust als cta a ctled etegat wkes tes the ecesstes pduct ad csupt subect tplang tegat t te sste ust ecaptue sated dduas as dduals iod ogh actes as we as cutuehuses, est tws as we as gad esebles ae especa ga ed the eds ths pseudllectt whch als accpaes the s-ated dvdua wth the fmy c he eea ed use ecees the spectacua essage akes t pssble the ddua t eppuate hs sat wth dat ages aes whch acque teu pwe l because th s slat

7

the st te a ew achtectue whch a peus epchshad e eseed the satsact the dat classes s d-e aed h oo. he a pet ad the gat c spead ths new expeece habtat bth ce ts m chaactehh s cded bth b ts destatn ad b de cd



ion o conrcion. Authotaa decso which abac -ganie erriory ino errior o abacion i obvioy a he hear

o hee modern cond i ion o conuci on The ame archi ecue apear wherever e indriaiaion o conrie acward in hi repec begin hey are a iabe erain or he new ype o ocia ex-ience which i o e ima ned here. J a cear y a in queion ohermoncear armamen or o birhwhich aready aroache heoiiiy o a maaion o herediyhe hrehod croed by hegrowh of socey's maeria ower and e reardaion o conciodomiaion o i ower ar diayed in rbanim

1 7

Te ree moen i aready he mome o e edercion othe uban m eu Te exanion o ce over conryde coveredwth unfomed masses of ran reide ewi Mmord i d ec yoffcated by the mpeatves o conm io . Te d icaori of theautomobe, p otpoduct o e ir phase of commodty abu ndance,nscbed tsef on the erh wih e domiion of the h ghway, wh chd socates anc ent centes and equ es an eve a ge d speson At thesame tme, the moments of ncompeted eoganaton o the ubantssue poae tempoay rond "dstbuton factoes, enomoussupemakets constucted on are gound, on a pakng ot and thesetempes of hued consumpton themseves fee wthn the centfugamovement whch ejects them when they n tun become ovebudenedseconday centes, because hey rogh about a pata ecomposton

of aggomeaton But the techn ca ogan aton of consump ton s on yth e f st eement of th e genea dioio wh ch has ed th e cty to thepont of onsumn self

5

Economc hstoy, hch deveoped entey aound the oppostonbetween town and county, has aved at a eve of success whch s

mu taneous y ann h ates both tems he cuent paralss o totahstoca movement, to the poft of the soe pusut of the ndependent movement of the economy, makes the moment when ton andcounty beg n to dsappea o he ansenane of the c eavage, butthe s mu taneous co apse he ecpoca eoson of own and county, poduct of the faue of the hstoca movement though chexstng uban eaty shoud have been sumounted, appeas n theecectc meange of the decomposed eements, whch coves the ones

most advanced n ndustaaton



1 76

Uniersal hstory is born in the cities and comes of ae at the moment of the decise ctory of city oer contry. Mar consde rs t oneof the reatest reotionary merits of the boreose that " it sb ectedthe i ae to the cty hose a aat Bt if the history of thecity is the hstory of liberty it is also the history of tyranny of stateadmnistraton hch controls the contry and the cty itself. As yet thecity as only abe to be the teri n of the strle for h istorical l ibertyand not its possessi on The city is the l f ty becase it is at

once concentratio o social poer hch makes the historical ndertak i n possi be an d conscio sness of the past. The present tendencytoard the lqidation of the cty ths epresses in a different ay theretardaton of the sbordnation of the economy to historical conscosness the nfcation of society takin back the poers hich became detached from it.

77

"The contryside shos precsely the opposite isol ati on and separation (Ga Ily The rbanism hich destroys cties recomposes a ty hich oses the natral relations of theancient contryside as ell as the d irect socil relati ons d i rectly pt i ntoq estio n by the historicl city t is a ne artific a l peasntry h ich isrecreated by the conditions of dellin and of spectaclar controlithin the present

"orani ed territory; the scatterin in spce nd

the limited mentality hich hd lys preented the peasantry fromndertakin an independent ction and from affirmin itself as a creatie hstorical force become chrcteristics of the prodcersthe moeent of a orld hich they theseles fabricate remainn as compeely ot of their rech s he ntral rhythm of tsks as for therr ian society. B t hen th is pesantry h ich as the n oablebase of "Orientl despotism nd hose ery framentation caled forbreacratic centraliation repers as the prodct of conditions of

roth of the odern state brecrcy its aaty mst no be tally faat and maintined natral inorance has been replacedby the oran ied spectacle of error The " ne cites of the technolocl psedopentry clerly inscribe into the rond their rptrth the historicl time on hich they ere constrcted their mottocold be "On this spot nothin ill eer happen and t a

pp t is obiosly becase the history hich mst be libertdin the citi hs not yet een liberted that the forces of tal a bin to cose heir on eclsie landscpe



8

he htry whch threaten th wght wrd a the frcewh ch ud uject pace t ved tme. Pretaran rev ut n theciiqu o hum gogphy thrugh whch ndvdua and cmmun-te mut cntruct the pace and he event crrepnd ng t the apprpratn n nger ny f ther abr, but f ther tta htryWt hn th mv ng pace f the game and f freey chen varatn frue the game, the autnm f pace can be reganed wthut rentrducng an excuve attachment t the and, thu brngng ack thereat f the jurne and f fe undertd a a jrney cntanngwthn tef a f t ene

The greatet revutnary dea wh reference t rbanm nt tef uran tc techn gca r ethet the d e n t rentruct the envrnment cmpee n accrdane wth the ns fthe pwer f the Wrker Cn, f e isis dico fthe pretarat f enfrceab e da gue nd the pwer f he Cc whh can n y e effecve b ransfrmn g he ta t f esncnd tn, can nt agn tef a ma er task f t wan be rened and o cogize isef n wrd.



V I I I .

NEGATIO AND COSUMPTION

W I T H I C U L T U R

"J I ,'

. I, f

I



W' ing li long enou a poli-tical revolution? , the conmpores of oGermans? My friend, you lie a you desi Si I jud Germany in rms o i pnt

hiso, you cannot objt that i whole histor isfalsified and a its pnt pubc fe does not r

prest e rl condition of e people. Read anyaper you nt, convin you that oneds not aand ou wi conde hat cenrip stops o one rom asito celeb thelir and national happine w po •

Ruge,

leer to MarxMarch 1 .



80

Cltre s the general sphere of the knowledge and the representa

tons of the lved, n the hstoral soety dvded nto lasses whh sto say tha ltre s the power of generalaton exstng apart, as advson of ntelletal laor and as the ntelletal laor of dvsonC ltre detahes sel f fro the n ty of the soety of yth when thepower of nfaton dsappears fro the lfe of an and when oppostes lose the r re laton and t he r I vn g nteraton a nd aq re ato-noy . " (Diference des systems de Fichte et de Schelling) y ganng ts ndependene, ltre egns an peralst oveent of enrh-ent whh s at the e te the del ne of ts ndependene Thehstory whh reates the relatve atonoy of ltre and the deo-loga l l l sons aot th s atonoy also expresses tself a s h sory ofl tre And a l l the onq er ng hstory of ltre an e nderstoodas the hstory of the revelaton of ts nadeqay, as a arh towards tsselfsppresson C ltre s the loaton of the searh for lost n tyn ths searh for nty , ltre as a separate sphere s ol ged to negaetself

8

he strggle etween tradton and nnovaton, whh s the prn-ple of nternal developent of ltre n hstoral soetes, n onlye arred on throgh th e peranent vtory of n novaton Yet nnovaton n ltre s arred y nothng other than the total hstoral oveent whh, y ong onss of ts totalty, tends to go eyondts own ltral presppostons and oves toward the sppresson ofa l l separaton

82

he rse of stdes of soety whh ontan the nderstandng ofhstory as the heart of ltre, takes fro tlf a knowledge wthotretrn , wh h s expressed y the destrton of God t ths frstondton of all rtqe s also the frst olgaton of a rtqe wth

ot end When t s no longer possle to antan a sngle rle of on-dt, every rsult of ltre fores ltre to advane towards ts ds-sol t on L ke ph losophy at the oent when t ga ned ts f l l ato-noy, every dsplne whh eoes atonoos has to fall apart,frst of all as a pretenton to explan soal totalty oherently, andfnally even as a fragented nstrentaton whh an e se n tsown ondares The lack of rationality of searate ltre s the eleent whh ondens t to dppear, ease wthn t the vtory ofthe ratona l s al ready present as a req reent



83

Cuue gew ou of e oy wc aboed e ype of fe ofe od wod, bu a a paae pee l no moe an enbengence and communcaon, wc eman paa n a pariay his-ra ocey I e ne of a wod w c a oo e ne

',-":?;l '· " �";: l

I

84

e end of e oy of cue manfe ef on wo oppoede e poec of anendence n oal oy and e ogan-zaon of peevaon a a dead obec n pecacua conemplaon.One of ee movemen a ed fae o oca c qu e oe oe defene of ca powe



5

Eh of the two ses of the e of ultuell the spets of theees s well s ll the spets of tngble epesenttonsexst n ut ne wht use to be a the ost genel sense I th e of the sees the uulto of fget lengs whhboe unuble beuse the ao of exstng ontons ust f-ll eoe kowede of f ofots the th of px s wh hloe hols the tuth of them ll b beg the onl oe tht hols theet of the use I n the of epenttons the tl selfestuto of soet's et oo aa ts tfl eom

posto n the oot spetle ofots the llu epesentto of the notle

B losng the omut of the et of mth et ust lo

ll the efeenes of ell oo lnguge up to the moent whenthe septo of the te ount be suoute b eon to the el h stol ou n t. At ws the omo lnguge of l nton; fom the oet whe t onsttutes tlf ntonepenent t n the moe sese emegng fo ts ognl elgous unvese n beong nul pouto of epr wokst knows s spel se the moement whh omtes the hstoof the enmble of septe ultue Its nepenent ffmt is €

begnnng of s estuton.

7

The ft th the lnguge of omunton s lostths s wht soe expe b the moe movement of eomposton o ll

t ts foml n n h lto n Wht th s moement expes ees the ft tht ommon lnguge ust be eoeno longe nthe unltel onluson whh awa ad oo ae n the t of thehstol et spekng o ohe bout wht ws le wthout ellogue n mttng ths efen of lfebut t must be eoeed n pxs whh gthes wthn t ll t tvt n ts ln-guge The poble s to effetvel ess the om u n t of loguen the gme wth te whh he been eeeed b poetotstwoks



88

hen at hich has ecoe ineenent eesents its ol thaling colos a oent of l ife has gon o an t cannot e eenate ith al in g colos. t n on y e eoke i n eoy hegeatness of at onl y egi ns to aea at the fal l o f l ife

8

The h istoical t i e hi ch i naes at ex esse i tself f ist of al l i n theshee of at itself, stating ith the baroue aoqe is the at of awol h ich has lost its cente the last ythi cal oe in the cososan in the teestial goenent accete y the Mile A gesthe -n ity of Ch istian ity an the hanto of an E iehas fal l en. The arof chage st cay ithin it the eheeal incile which it iscoes i n the ol. t has chosen says Egenio Os, l ife agai nsteten ity. heate an the feast the theat ca l feast ae the o i nant

oents of aoqe eal iation ithn hich al l aticla atistic exession ecoes eaningfl only thogh its efeence to the settingof a constcte lace, to a constction hich st e its on centeof nification; an this cente is the passage, which is inscie as a

theatene eq i l ii ithi n the yna ic isoe of the whole Thesoehat excesse iotance gien to the concet of the aoqe inthe onteoay iscssion of esthetics tanslates the going aaeness of the i ossi i l ity of atisti c classicis : fo thee centi es the attets to ealie a noatie classicis o neoclassicis ee no oethan ief atficial constctions seaking the extenal langage of thetate, of the a solte onachy o of the eolt onay ogeo isie i noan clothes F o oanticis t o cis i t is i n the last analysisan ee oe iniialie at of negation eetally enoating it·self to the oin t of the c li ng an co lete negati on of the atistic shee hich folloe the geneal cose of the aoqe The isaeaance of histoical at, hich as tie to the intenal conication of an el ite, hich ha its se ineennt social asis i n the atly

layfl con iti ons stil l l e y t he last aistocacies, also tanslates thefact that caitalis exeiences the fist class oe hich confesses itself ae of any ontological qality an hose oot of oe in thesile anageent of the econoy is eqally the loss of al l hanmaster he aoqe ensel e hi ch i s itsel f a longlost n ity fo atistic creato, is eiscoee i n soe ann e i n the esent cosumto of the total ity of the atistic st H isto ical nol ege an ecogn itio n of a l l the at of the ast, etosectel y constitte i nto a o lat elatiies it into a gloal isoe hch n its tn constittes a



baoque edfce on a hghe eel an edfce hn hch he roducon of barque ar sef and a s ea s d ss e The ars o a cl atons and a eochs can for he rs e be ad adedogeher I s a "ecol econ o soue s he hsory ar h chby becong ssbe, s aso h nd of h wold of a. s h seoch of useus, hen arsc cuca ca n ger esha al he ancen oens of ar can be equay aded becausenone of he sufe oe fro he loss o her arcuar cndosof coucaon han fo he rese ss o cds councaon in gnal

90

At n th e epoch of s d ssol u on, a nega e oeen h ch seeksthe tanscendence of a n a hsocal socet hee hsor s n etd s sultaneousl an ar of change and he pue eesson of -ossle change The oe gandose ts reach he oe s tue eal-ton s beond t h s t s foc b n he agad and t ots ngud s s dppeaance.



1 9 1

aas a srreas e he es hh k hee er ar Thgh y eley ss aer heyare eprar es he a s ge s he re r y p eara ee a he ee f hs ee, hh e heprse he sae as fel hse eay hey had es he as reas r h er l Dada s d srea sare a e h sra y reed ppse h s pps, h hses he s pra a dl pa he feah reeas he era aeqay her rqe eelpe e-se y y eah aas wae ppr a w ralzng ;srea s wae ral ar w pprng The raps aer earae y he an has sh h he sppress a he reaa ar are separae aspes he ermng f ar

1 92

Speaar sp hh peseres geed ae e,g he reperae repe f s egae ess,pey ees he se h s ply s ayhe mmnan f nmmnabl The eee es agge a hee e aklege ay as a a pse ae se he ask s aese ea wh he d

a sae f hgs here a nn s jysly praeda se The a l h f h s es w h eferee he ea fe pey a den ar s sly hdde se he spele,hse s mak ry gn wn lr ppes h e pseey f s ern s ens he ey egy h ses eph T hs sh f nel ee, hh s p ly sh epaes h s ren s n ke, n pesen seas seh g e. hee, lnsde h e s pl e pln

e sffe ey he d ssln he n le, he sde eneny f spel lend he ne s ely ed h e epesse pe he genel n n f seyseeks epse, y ens f el ks ple nes en-nen de p f depsed eemens nly n he eehes nen f s ge eshehnl hds nn s h s s nslan n e eel f spe sede he enel pje f dee s hh ms



apte the fagente woke as a "pesonality well integate in thegop a teneny entl y esie y Ae can socioogists ( R iesan hyte et ) . t is eeyhee th e poet of a restructurigithout commuity

1 93

Clte tne opetely nto ooity st also tn into thesta ooit y of the spetaa soiety. Col i n Ke one of the ost

aane ieooges of this teneny has alclate that the oplepoess of potion istition an consption of koledge a eay gets 29% of the yealy natonal pot in the nte tates anhe pets that in the seon haf of ths enty t e w i l hol thekey ole n the eelo pent of the eonoy a ole pl aye y the atooile in the fst haf an y aloas in the seon half of th �2os centy.

94

he ensele of eanngs whih ontine to eelop toay as thethought of the spectle st stfy a soiety wthot stifiationsan st onttte thesees nto a genea siene of false onosness. hi s thoght s op etely oni tone y the fat that itannot a n oes not want to th in k of its own ateal ass in the speta a syte

1 9

he thoght o the a oganaton of appeaane is itsef o y the geneale subomunition whh t efens t oesnot k now that on t s at the og n of a l th ngs n ts wol . hespeasts of the powe o the spetae an asote powe within theontet o ts syste o angage wthot answe ae asoltely opte y the epeene o ontept an the sess of onteptthey n the ontept onfe y the knowege of the contemptibl mn who the spetato ea y s



Wiin e secialied oug of e secacular ssem a ne division of ass aes lace o e een a e i mrovemen of i s sem iself oses ne roblems on one an e tl tq ft tl is underaen b moern sociolog wic sudies searaion b e sole means of e conceual and maerial insrumens ofsearaion on e oer an e ly f t tl consiuesisel ino e oug of nonoug ino e ffl ftt ofisorical racice i in al l e various d iil i nes ere srucural ismaes roo Nevereless e false desa ir of nond ialecical ci iqu e ande alse oimism of ure adverising of e ssem are idenica a

submissive oug

e sociolog ic began firs of all in e Unied Saes o ocusdiscussion on e coniions o eisence broug abou b resendevelomen as able o bring o view muc emirical daa bu could



i n no way kow te truth its ow object because it does not ndwt in it te crtique man o t. The resu t is tat te s incerely re-fomst tendency of ts sc lgy leans on moral ity, on common sense,

on competey senseess appeals wt regard to measure, etc. Becauset s type of crHque s no am l ar wt te egatve wc s at the eart of its wor d, it on ly nsists on the descripton of a type f negatvesurp us wic seems deplorab l to h nder i t on e surface, l ike an i r-rat io na l parastic pro l ferat io. Th is d ignant good wi l , w ic evenas such arrves at bla ming o ly te externa l consequences of the system,t nks tef crit ca l , ortt g te esseta l ly apologetic character of its assuptons an i ts eth

98

Those wo eoce e asuity o the peis of ncteent towaste in the sociey ecoc aunance o not know te puposeof waste Tey cne h i gatitue, in the nae of econo ic

ationaliy, te goo iational ua�ans witout who te powe ot is econoc ato nal ity wou l col lapse An Boosti n, o exapl e,wo The Image esces th coiy consuptio of the A ecan spectace, eve eaces he ccept spectacle cause e th nkshe can leave pivate ife, o th tn of "the hnest coty," outsie of t s sastus exaggatio n He es not uestan that thecoty itse ae the laws whose honest" applcatin leas tote stinct eality of pivate le an to its uteio econquest y thesoca consuption of i ages

99

Bost n esc ies t he excsss a wol wh ch as ecoe feignt us as the y wee excesses ign t ou w B ut the nal"ass f socal l fe, to whch h iplct ly efes we e quaif is thesupefcia egn of ages ts o psychologcal a oa ugents as the pouct of "u xavagat petentons," has o ealtyite in his ok in h is epch is ecause the eal hu an l fe Bostn speaks is f th past, wh ih in cl us he past f el ig ussgat, that e caot usa all the puity o a scit i ags Th truth his scit is hing othe tha te egatoo th s sct



200

he socoogy whch thnks t can soate ro the woe o soca

e an ndustr a ratona ty ncton ng apart can go so ar as to soatero t ga dta ovnt th tu o rpoductoand trasson t ts that Boorst n d tat th rsuts depcts ar cased y t uappy aost ortutous ncot o aovrsd tca aarat o t duso o ag wt an xssv attat o t t sudsatona o t art t op oor poc t ta d causd y t at tat odan to u a tatr Boot n d ot dtad that thprorato t aatd udovt dnon

w ro t act tat t assv raty t sa d t tv v vnts t s cas ty ta t od ty a t tat n nds t d toyonstutd at vy v pton o to pv t tat u t t frozen time.

201

h araton o t dntv stabty a t rod o ronstorca t s th udna bass unconsousy and conscosyprocad o th prsnt tndncy toward a uuali ystatat on h vantag po nt ro whc h ant h stoca strut a t tougtvw th word s tat o t tra presnc o a syt wh wasnvr cratd and h ch w nvr nd dra o th d tatorsh p



o peeii oio e oe oil pi iel o oel o e elo liii eolo ee e lsi o e ioi o pilis oel l busl unstoo n t ccumstncs ipl ee e

ei iiio o ee iorie il il le iiio opleel eee i e eleio o he eii e l l ee el i o he e isee o e e .

202

As i ll isoril soil siee i oer o est r

li" egoie i ls e ep i i e eoie epe os of ei ee o iios of ei ee t s oe oppise e le o i e o e oepio he s of iel oe o ppie ie eeie oiey ig i ispl e e le i spes o isel; . . so e oge o sh perio o soio by s o osiosess; oe or is osioess s rher be ep l ie fro e oiio o eil l ife " rre i e er o presepoer. rrl i is e thougt gunt b the Stte ih

his he pee oiios of spelr oio s sol e s eo o s i e oe o esses is isel oh i g e po e reogiio o soie ere o iioe is i e or o e o ierri i ls Coseqel i iso rlis i seres o poe e risoil lii oe oie o he spele i is o he o he ie of hespele iposig isel s sie eli hi es o poe heol e o s l is.

203

oel e iil oept of spctcle lso be lriei o soe o ol lo for l of soio loiopo l iil r eoi o epl i bsrl eo e eerh i ths sere s eee ohe spe lr sse is obios h o ie le beyo he

eisi spele bt o l y beyo the e istig ies o the speleFo eeie estrtio of he soie of he spetle h iseee is e ptig pri l foe i o io The i i l heoro e spetle ol be e iig ih he pil eo eio i ie his eio the es ptio o he reol io ls sgle i l l eoe osios o itelf eel opi hei ie o he spele h ih is he eor of is rel oi iospil oiios o preset oppessio ierely b eilig



the ecret of what t can ecoe. Th theory doe not expect rac efro the workng ca I t envage the new foraton and the

rea aton of proetaran want a a ongrange tak To ake an artfca dtncton etween theoretca trgge and practca trggence on the a here defned, the very conttton and the concaton of ch a theory cannot even e conceved wthot a rgoro practcet certan that the ocre and dffct path of crtca theory hold ao e the lot of the practca oveent actng onthe cae of ocety

204

Ctca theory t e cmmuicaed n t own angage Th the angage of contradcton whch t e daectca n t for a t n t content I t crte of the tota ty and h torca crte t not a ero degree of wrtng t t overcong It not a negaton of tye, t the tye of negaton

205

In t very ty e, th e expoton of da ectca theory a canda andan ao naton n ter of the r le of the do nant langage and forthe tate whch they have edcated, ecae n the potve e of ext-ng concept t at the ae te ncde the knowedge of ther redcovered uidiy of the r n eceary detrcton.

206

Th tyl e whch conta n t own cr t e t expre t he dona-ton of the preent crt e oe its etie pas Throgh t the ode ofexpoton of dalectcal theory ake vle the negatve prt wthn t "Trth not l k e a prod ct n whch one can no onger fnd anytrace of the peent" (Hegel) . Th theoretca concone ofovement wthn whch the very trace of oveent t e preentanfet telf y oetuig the etalhed reaton etween con

cept and y displacemet of al l the ac ton of prevo crt e.he overtrnng of the gentve th expresson of htorcal revolt on, congned to the form of thoght, whch wa condered the ep-gram atc tyle of Hegel The yong Marx, advocatng the replacement of the ject y the predcate after the ytematc e Feeracade of th, acheved the mot content e of th isuectioalstyle whch, ot of the phoophy of mery, drew te mery of phl-oop hy D placement ead to the veron of pat cr t ca l conc -

on whch were froen nto repectale trt, namely tranform



into l i es K iekegd l edy sed it d el betely dd i g h is o denniton o it B t despte l l the tos d detos j st s j m lys etns to te pnty yo lys end p by sli d ng n l ttl e od

ih isn 't yos nd hih bothes yo by te memoy it kes.(Plpical Fagm) It is the oblgtio o diac tod tt ih s lsii ed i nto o il t t h ih detem ines the se o d splemet s s knoledged by Kekegd in the sme bookOnl y one moe om ment o yo nmeos l l sions m g t l l th egie I mx into my sttements o booed sbjets I do ot dey itee no ll I dey tht t s olty nd tt in e otiti on to thi s bohe i I ee ite it I itend to nme te obj et byits el me nd to le te poblem n histoil ttie.

27

Ides impoe The meig o ods ptiiptes i the impoemet Pl gi ism is eess y. Pogess i m pl ies it It sqeezes thephse o n to mkes se o its expessions bs ot lse de

eples it t te ide.

28

Di splemet is te opposite o ittio o the theoetil tho ityhih is lys lsied by the mee t o beomig itto g-ment to ot o its otext its moemet nd lly its epo s

geel eeee d s peise hoie h t s thin ths eeee extly eog ed o eoeos. D isp lemet is the ld lgge o nti deology It ppes th om m ito h h k ostht it ot petend to hold y gtee itsel d deiitely. Its t ts hghest poit the lgge hih ot be oimed by yet nd s p til eeee On th e oty it is ts ooheee ith itsel d it ptible ts hih oimth iet g o tth h h it bigs ot Di sp lemet hs not

go de ts se on yth ng exten l to ts on tth s pesett

29

t hi h thoet l m ltio ope ly pesets itsel s diplaced og l l d ble to omy o the sphee o the th eoeti ll ypss throgh ths volene igig bot the inteeto o



on whch deanges and caes away the ene exstng ode s a ende ha hs exsence o theoy s nohng n se ad can onyknow se wh hsoca acon and the hsoc coec hch s

s ea oyay.

2 0

The ea negao n o cu tu e s he on y pesevaton o ts a ngI c o onge be cuu As a esu s what eans s ayat the eve o cu tu e ahough n a co petey dnt ses

2

In he anguage o contadcon he cque o cutue presents tse ufed n the sense hat donates the whoe o cutuetsknowedge as we as ts poey, and n he sense tha no ongesepaates se o he c que o he soca tota ty I t s th s ufed heoec cque whch goes aone towads th encune wth

unfed soc pcce







2 1 2

delg the ss f the thught f a ca cet wth n the cnf cta cu e f ht delgca fact hae nee een mple chmaea ut defmed cncune f eate and a uch the haeeen ea fact n tun exetng ea defm ng actn A l the meean wh the mlo f delg ght aut the cn

cete ucce f autnm ed ecn m c pductn n the fm f thepectace n pactce cnfued wth the ca ealt f an delgwh ch wa ae t educe eeth ng ea t t wn mde

2 1 3

When deg whch the src wl f the unea and t lun fnd tef legtmated the unea atactn and the effecte dctathp f lun n mden cet t n nge a untatc tugge f the pata ut t ct. m th pnt, degcal petentn acu e a t f flat pt tc exacttud e: t nnge a h tcal chce ut a fact Wth n uch an affma tn, thepatcula ms f de ge hae dappeaed he e rl e f pr-pe delgcal a n the ece f the tem n lnge cncee

f tef a mre than the ecgntn f an

eptemlgca p latfrm

whch want t e utde f a l delgc a phenmena Matera eddeg telf namee jut a t wthut an exprele htcapgam. h anthe wa f an g that th e ht of dolos e.

2 1

I delg, whe whl e nternal lgc led t tta deg n Mannhem' ene, the deptm f the fragment whch mpe telf a apeudknwledge f a fren oly the olr n, nwaccmp l hed wth n the m m ed pectacle f nnh tr t cm-pletn al t cl lape wth n the whle f cet I delg, thels urso wh ch lck acce t h trcal l fe, mu t d appear wththe prccl col/ps f th cet.



2 5

The setale s delgy ar exel lene, beause t exses and an ests n ts u l l ness the essene a l l de lg al systes the ver shent, the servtude and the negatn rea l l e he setale saterally the exressn the searatn and estrangeent betweenan and an Thrugh the new power raud nentrated at thebass the setale n ths sety, the new da n al en bengs whh an serves grws tgether wth the ass bjets I t sthe hghest stage an exansn whh has turned need aganst le"The need r ney s thus the real need rdue by lta eny, and the nly need t rdues (Ecoomic ad Phlosophcalauscrps) The setale extends t all sal l e the rnle

whh Hegel ( n the ealphlosophe Jena neves as the rnle ney t s "the l e what s dead, v ng wth n tsel



2 6

I n oppo on o h pojc uaad n h Theses o Feueh(h a aon of ph oophy n pax whch ovco h oppoonwn da and aa h pcac uaouy pv and po (whn h pudoconc of unv do oca chaac of aa and of da conpav d of h old aal whc conv h wod a pnaon and no a acvyand whc uay da acopl d n h pcac wh conc h n a auoaca y h

a of oca f c poca l y h dremed of da qua ly copld n h pcac houh h chn ca daon ofn and naw ch f nal ly aal an abac da

2

paa bwn doo and copha ad Ga (L Fusse osee) u pacd wn cooc poc f aaaon of dooy Soc ha c wha dooya ad a h ova of pax and an d acca fa concou whch accpan a pod dun ach ho of day f ucd o h pcac u b undood a a acoanao of h fau of facu f ncoun ad a placn by a huor so f fa conc u of ncou uon of h ncoun. a cy w no n

can an eoed oh vy ndvdua bco una cn wn a d ooy a ho aao habu d

2

c nca u f copna a Gab dcadnc f da cc f oa (w x fo d caon ad dcadc of dacc of con (w xf caaona o d un d concoun f pca f a fand unv d see f pcac bd whch own f ha bn dpod w on h f-o es wo na h u aa wh cdyand p c of d h pcac, n a xn n n o. a w a fa x

fo a a d au.



2 9

e pectacle, w c te el i inatin f te l it between l f an

wrl trug te etructn f te elf beiege by te presencabence f te wrl, equally te eliinatin f te lit betweentrue and fale trug te reprein f all trut lved uner te eal

pesece f te l ie enure by te rgani atin f ap pearance O ne wubt paively t alen daly fate i tu pued tward a fllywic react l lu ri l y tward t i fate by tu rn ing t agical tec ni qu ee acceptance and cnuptn f cdtie are at te eart ft peudrepne t a c un icatin wt ut repne e neet tate wc felt y te cnuer i precely te infantle nee

cnd t ned by al l te apect f fu ndaental d pen I n teter applied by abel t a cpletely ifferent patlgcal level,te abnral need fr repreentatn ere cpenate fr a trturng feeling f beng n te argn f extence

22

I f te lg c f fale cnci une cannt tru ly nw itelf , te earc

fr cr tcal trut abut te pectacle ut al be a true cri ti qu e I tut truggle n practice ang t e rrecnc lab le ene ie f te pectacle an ad i t tat it abent were tey are abent I t te law fte rulng tugt te excluve pnt f view f te hee d ow,

tat accept te abtract wll f iediate fficacy wen te rulngtugt trw telf nt te cpre f refri r int tecn actin f peudrevlutnary garbage I n t way del ru recnttute itelf witn te very pitin wic pretend cbat

it n t e cntrary, te crit q ue w c ge beyn te pectacle utkow how to wai

22

Eancpatn fr t e ater ial bae f i nverted trutt wat

te elfeanc patin f ur epc cnit f i itrcal iinf intall ng trut in te wrld cannt be accplie eiter by telated ndvdual, r by te at ed a ubected t anpu latin,but tl l and alway by te cla wic i able t be te etructin fall clae by taing all pwer int te dealienating fr f realiedecracy, te u nci l in w c practcal tery cntrl itelf and eeit wn actin On ly tere are i ndiv idua l i rectly tie t un iveraltry nly tere e ialgue ar itelf t ae it wn cnditn cnquer







ERRAA

Documents

Radical America - Vol 4 No 5 - 1970 - June July