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Debord

Guy Debord (December 5, 1931 – November 30, 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, and filmmaker and a leading figure in the Situationist International (SI). He helped develop a critical framework for understanding modern capitalism and its cultural effects, and his work has influenced critical theory, cultural studies, and urban theory.

Debord began his career in the Lettrist movement and co-founded the Situationist International in 1957, where

Debord's best-known work, The Society of the Spectacle (1967), argues that capitalist society has transformed social

Beyond the book, Debord produced a number of experimental films including the 1973 adaptation The Society of

He died in Paris in 1994.

he
and
fellow
members
pursued
a
program
of
avant-garde
critique,
political
radicalism,
and
urban
experimentation.
The
SI
emphasized
concepts
such
as
detournement
(the
appropriation
and
remixing
of
existing
media),
dérive
(the
practice
of
aimless
wandering
through
urban
space
to
disrupt
routine),
and
unitary
urbanism
(a
critique
of
conventional
city
planning).
life
into
a
spectrum
of
appearances
in
which
authentic
relations
are
mediated
by
images
and
commodities.
The
spectacle
consolidates
power
by
manufacturing
consensus
and
passive
consumption.
The
book
has
been
widely
read
as
a
critique
of
mass
media,
consumer
culture,
and
the
commodification
of
social
life.
the
Spectacle,
and
he
published
later
essays
such
as
Commentaries
on
the
Society
of
the
Spectacle
(1988).
His
ideas
helped
shape
debates
around
media,
urbanism,
and
political
action,
and
they
remain
influential
among
scholars
and
activists
studying
modern
media
and
social
control.