Anti-consumerism
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Spectacle
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Punk
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· Alter-globalization
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· Environmentalism
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Popular works
Society of the Spectacle (book)
· Society of the Spectacle (film)
· Evasion
· No Logo
· The Corporation
· Affluenza
· Escape from Affluenza
· The Theory of the Leisure Class
· Fight Club (novel)
· Fight Club (film)
· Steal This Book
· Surplus: Terrorized into Being Consumers
· Profit over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order
· So, What's Your Price?
· What Would Jesus Buy?
Persons and organizations
Adbusters
· Freecycle
· Slavoj Žižek
· Ralph Nader
· Green party
· John Zerzan
· Noam Chomsky
· Ron English
· Naomi Klein
· CrimethInc.
· Thorstein Veblen
· Hugo Chávez
· Abbie Hoffman
· Guy Debord
· Michael Moore
· José Bové
· Michel Foucault
· RTMark
· Rage Against the Machine
· Jello Biafra
· The Yes Men
· Merce & Ruben
· Democracy Now
· Reverend Billy
· Vandana Shiva
· Bill Hicks
· Columnanegra
· Anomie Belle
· Occupy Wall Street
· Thom Yorke
· Kurt Cobain
Related subjects
Advertising
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· Economic problems
· Left-wing politics
· Sweatshops
· Anti-consumerists
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Culture jamming , coined in 1984, [1][2][3] denotes a tactic
used by many anti-consumerist social movements[4] to disrupt
or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate
advertising. Guerrilla semiotics and night discourse are
sometimes used synonymously with the term culture
jamming .[5][6]
Culture jamming is often seen as a form of subvertising. Many
culture jams are intended to expose apparently questionable
political assumptions behind commercial culture. Common
tactics include re-figuring logos, fashion statements, and
product images as a means to challenge the idea of "what's
cool" along with assumptions about the personal freedoms of
consumption.[7]
Culture jamming sometimes entails transforming mass media
to produce ironic or satirical commentary about itself, using the
original medium's communication method. Culture jamming is
usually employed in opposition to a perceived appropriation of
public space, or as a reaction against social conformity .
Prominent examples of culture jamming include the
adulteration of billboard advertising by the BLF and Ron English
and the street parties and protests organised by Reclaim the
Streets . While most culture jamming focuses on subverting or
critiquing political or advertising messages, some practitioners
focus on a more positive, musically inspired form of jamming
that brings together artists, scholars and activists to create new
forms of cultural production that transcend rather than merely
criticize or negate the status quo. [8]
Contents [hide]
1 Origins of the term, etymology and history
1.1 1984 Coinage
1.2 Origins and preceding influences
2 Tactics
3 Criticism
4 List of culture jamming organizations or people
5 See also
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
[edit ] Origins of the term, etymology and history
[edit] 1984 Coinage
The term was coined in 1984 by the sound collage band
Negativland, with the release of their album JamCon '84 .[1][2]
[3] The phrase "culture jamming" comes from the idea of radio
jamming :[2] that public frequencies can be pirated and
subverted for independent communication, or to disrupt
dominant frequencies.[9] In one of the tracks of the album,
they declared: [2]
As awareness of how the media environment we
occupy affects and directs our inner life grows,
some resist. The skillfully reworked billboard . . .
directs the public viewer to a consideration of
the original corporate strategy. The studio for
the cultural jammer is the world at large.
[edit] Origins and preceding influences
According to Vince Carducci , although the term was coined by
Negativland, culture jamming can be traced as far back as the
1950s. [10] One particularly influential group that was active in
Europe was the Situationist International and was led by Guy
Debord. Their main argument was based on the idea that in the
past humans dealt with life and the consumer market directly.
They argued that this spontaneous way of life was slowly
deteriorating as a direct result of the new "modern" way of life.
Situationists saw everything from television to radio as a threat.