The Power of Culture Jamming
February 20th 2008 23:38
In the postmodern global era, the dominant order of the State seems unchallenged by attempts of resistance such as terrorism and cultural jamming, posed by many subaltern groups. Debord (1992:13) has suggested that the reason is due to modernity’s ability to absorb and appropriate the ‘challenge’ back into the system. “…the spectacle is both the outcome and the goal of the dominant mode of production” (Debord, 1992:13) With regards to the (WEF) World Economic Forums protests, Debord’s ideas can be validated as the spectacle of the protest which was instigated to resist the ideas of modernity and capitalism, were then used by the media to create spectacular news resulting in the promotion of modernity’s products such as news reports. The protests were transformed into money making tactics in the forms of television broadcasts, newspapers, magazine articles, etc, which does not serve to challenge the dominant order but to reinforce it.
No matter what the challenge is, the status quo has been constructed to resist and appropriate it, so that it maintains the order of the State. Attempts to challenge the State by cultural jammers with their semiotic terrorism might have posed a threat at the beginning but now has been appropriated by the State and is used for their own purposes. A famous example of this is Nike jamming their billboards. The purpose of cultural jamming is to promote anti-capitalistic ideas using existing ad campaigns, which as Jordan (2002:114) suggests now can be wielded by the “enemy” to encourage consumerism.
Given these examples it is hard to see where subaltern groups challenge the State’s dominant order as the status quo seems impenetrable. Saying this however does not necessarily mean that subaltern groups pose no threat at all. Perhaps the challenge that subaltern groups pose, is more of a subtle one, which encompasses people’s ideas and values. For instance, Nike may have jammed their own ad campaign but the ideas that cultural jammers have conveyed about Nike using sweatshops to manufacture their products still continue to degrade Nike’s image. As Craig (2000:51) suggests the challenge that the subaltern groups pose is not the spectacle itself but the awareness it brings to the ideas and values that question the State’s motives, which in turn seeks to challenge the order.
People have not yet succumbed to being mindless zombies who absorb everything that the media spoon feeds and because of this there is still hope that the ideas subaltern groups create will challenge the order overtime by appropriating more people with the same ideals and values. The WEF protests, served not only as a spectacle used by the State to reaffirm its power but it also facilitated in showing the public the passionate ideas of people who are inarguably like themselves. In doing so, these protests, cultural jams challenge the order of State through their ideas and the “conscious raising” it promotes, which at the moment, seems almost untouchable to the status quo.
References
Debord, Guy. ‘Separation Perfected’ Society of the Spetacle (New York: Zone Books) 1994 pp. 11-24
Craig, Geoff, ‘The Spectacle of the Street: An Analysis of Media Coverage of Protests at the 2000 World Economic Forum’, Australian Journal of Communication, Vol 29, 2002 pp. 39-32.
Jordan Tim, ‘Culture Jamming and Semiotic Terrorism’ Activism! Direct Action, Hacktivism and the Future of Society’ (London: Reaktion Books) 2002 pp. 101-117
No matter what the challenge is, the status quo has been constructed to resist and appropriate it, so that it maintains the order of the State. Attempts to challenge the State by cultural jammers with their semiotic terrorism might have posed a threat at the beginning but now has been appropriated by the State and is used for their own purposes. A famous example of this is Nike jamming their billboards. The purpose of cultural jamming is to promote anti-capitalistic ideas using existing ad campaigns, which as Jordan (2002:114) suggests now can be wielded by the “enemy” to encourage consumerism.
Given these examples it is hard to see where subaltern groups challenge the State’s dominant order as the status quo seems impenetrable. Saying this however does not necessarily mean that subaltern groups pose no threat at all. Perhaps the challenge that subaltern groups pose, is more of a subtle one, which encompasses people’s ideas and values. For instance, Nike may have jammed their own ad campaign but the ideas that cultural jammers have conveyed about Nike using sweatshops to manufacture their products still continue to degrade Nike’s image. As Craig (2000:51) suggests the challenge that the subaltern groups pose is not the spectacle itself but the awareness it brings to the ideas and values that question the State’s motives, which in turn seeks to challenge the order.
People have not yet succumbed to being mindless zombies who absorb everything that the media spoon feeds and because of this there is still hope that the ideas subaltern groups create will challenge the order overtime by appropriating more people with the same ideals and values. The WEF protests, served not only as a spectacle used by the State to reaffirm its power but it also facilitated in showing the public the passionate ideas of people who are inarguably like themselves. In doing so, these protests, cultural jams challenge the order of State through their ideas and the “conscious raising” it promotes, which at the moment, seems almost untouchable to the status quo.
References
Debord, Guy. ‘Separation Perfected’ Society of the Spetacle (New York: Zone Books) 1994 pp. 11-24
Craig, Geoff, ‘The Spectacle of the Street: An Analysis of Media Coverage of Protests at the 2000 World Economic Forum’, Australian Journal of Communication, Vol 29, 2002 pp. 39-32.
Jordan Tim, ‘Culture Jamming and Semiotic Terrorism’ Activism! Direct Action, Hacktivism and the Future of Society’ (London: Reaktion Books) 2002 pp. 101-117
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