Situationism and the recuperation of an ideology in the era of Trump, fake news and post-truth politics

Bibliographic Data

ID4797199
AuthorsPaul Bleakley (0000-0002-2512-4072, University of New England, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume42
Issue3
Pages419-434
Publication date2018-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCapital & Class (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0309-8168 • E-ISSN: 2041-0980
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0309816818759231
OpenAlexW2789261568
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited20

As a variant ideology based on libertarian Marxism, the philosophy of situationism failed to achieve widespread popularity beyond a relatively brief time frame between the late 1950s and early 1970s. Despite this short-lived period of ascendency, the impact of Situationist concepts such as psychogeography, recuperation and the Spectacle have continued to play a role in the ongoing study of how reality is constructed in a system of advanced capitalism. Situationism's concern with the perception of reality as shaped by the mass media is of particular significance in the context of contemporary politics that has been dubbed the 'post-truth era'. The disavowal of the mass media by US President Donald Trump may give the impression of a Situationist approach that rejects the impact of such reality-shaping tools, yet a closer inspection of his actions suggests that Trump himself is responsible for the construction of a neo-Spectacle in which the recuperation of anti-establishment sentiment provides the basis for the reconsolidation of the position held by the capitalist elite within American society

Aesthetics · Capitalism · Elite · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Situationism · Sociology · Spectacle · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Social Media and Politics

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