While Debord was certainly not known for his modesty, many who are familiar with his book, including myself, are tempted to agree with him. Debord said of The Society of the Spectacle: “there have doubtless not been three books of social criticism of such importance in the last hundred years.” Debord was perhaps thinking of Marx’s Capital, the first volume of which was published in 1867, exactly 100 years prior to the publication of The Society of the Spectacle. The two other texts that are essential to an understanding of the SI’s theory are The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord (the SI’s leading theorist throughout its existence) and The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem. Selections from the journal’s twelve issues have been translated and published by Ken Knabb as the Situationist International Anthology. The Situationist International (SI) published a journal called Internationale Situationniste (IS). The situationists are best known for their radical political theory and their influence on the May 1968 student and worker revolts in France. The Situationist International (1957–1972) was a relatively small yet influential Paris-based group that had its origins in the avant garde artistic tradition. “Presented with the alternative of love or a garbage disposal unit, young people of all countries have chosen the garbage disposal unit.”
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