ABSTRACT

Throughout the texts of the quarter so far, there exists a myriad of common themes. Many of these themes are part of a larger rhetoric on the contingencies of capitalist-controlled technology in relation to the individual. Many authors have written extensively on the subject, yet few have offered any answers to the predicaments raised by their explorations. While there are few hints towards any sense of liberation from dominant ideologies within the texts, there are ideas from other, more current theorists (aside from the ones mentioned in class) which offer models for effective sociopolitical change. In this paper, I will first outline the common issues raised by Herbert Marcuse (in One Dimensional Man), Marshall McLuhan (in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man), and Stuart Ewen (in All Consuming Images: The Politics of Style in Contemporary Culture). I will then propose a technology-based network model for social and political alternatives, as outlined in the research done by Manuell Castells in his book, The Power of Identity and Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink in their book, Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward’s Poor Peoples’ Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail will also be referenced for the historical context provided by them in their research with poor people’s movements.

THE TECHNOLOGICAL NARCISSUS

One idea that has been extensively discussed in the texts has been that of the self and its physiological and ideological relationship to technology and culture. McLuhan was perhaps one of the first to write of this relationship in his prophetic Understanding Media. He proposed a reflexive relationship in his interpretation of the Greek myth of Narcissus: “…Narcissus is directly concerned with a fact of human experience… The youth Narcissus mistook his own reflection in the water for another person. This extension of himself by mirror numbed his perceptions until he became the servomechanism for his own extended or repeated image…He had adapted to his extension of himself and had become a closed system.” (McLuhan, 41). This narrative has had profound implications for further discourse (endorsed by physiological fact and research) on notions of identity and self manifested in technology and its consumption thereof. This ‘closed system’ of technological consumption was written about by Herbert Marcuse in his One-Dimensional Man:

“Here, the social controls exact the overwhelming need for the production and consumption of waste; the need for stupefying work where it is no longer a real necessity; the need for modes of relaxation which soothe and prolong this stupefication; the need for maintaining such deceptive liberties as free competition at administered prices, a free press which censors itself, free choice between brands and gadgets [italicized for emphasis]” (Marcuse, 7).

The very nature of this closed system appears to be reflexive in that the more the individual extends him or herself into it, the more the ‘image machine’ extends itself into the individual. Stuart Ewen has supportively pointed out that:

“…style in twentieth-century cultures cannot be separated from the conditions of the human subject it addresses…In urban centers, or in huge shopping malls, the visual juxtaposition of style and self is continual. Passing by shop window displays, broad expanses of gleaming plate glass, people confront a reflection of themselves, superimposed against the dream world of commodity. An invidious comparison is instantaneously provoked between the ‘off guard’ imperfections of ourselves – suddenly on view – and the studied perfection of the display.” (Ewen, 85)

This manifestation of the closed system, the ‘invidious comparison’, seems to allude to a kind of mind control, such as the ideological state apparatus Louis Althusser discussed in his philosophy regarding social ideology (Althusser defined ISAs as social superstructures which reinforce the representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence).
The notion of ideology and its encapture of the individual is also a strong component of the shared ideologue between the three authors. McLuhan had stated that, “Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous system to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don’t really have any rights left” (McLuhan, 68) . As if to directly address this idea, Marcuse claims that, “Today this inner space has been invaded and whittled down by technological reality. Mass production and mass distribution claim the entire individual… The manifold processes of introjection seem to be ossified in almost mechanical reactions” (Marcuse, 11). These ‘mechanical reactions’ (brilliantly and preclusively expressed by Charlie Chaplin in his critique, Modern Times) evidently tie directly back to Ewen’s ‘invidious comparison’. Marcuse referred to this Skinnerian process as mimesis, “…an immediate identification of the individual with his society and, through it, with the society as a whole…” (Marcuse, 11). This identification within the larger (dominant) social context leads into the next commonality carried throughout the texts: the manufacture of identity.

MANUFACTURED CHOICE IN CONSTRUCTION OF SELF

“The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment” (Marcuse, 9)

According to the post-Marxian model circumscribed by the texts, identity appears to be ‘mimicked’ from a set of preordained choices set forth by the dominant structure (the premise of an earlier lecture had proposed this topic within the context of Baudrillard and The Matrix; ‘What if all your choices were already made for you?’). If choice is already preordained, how much freedom is there within this model? Marcuse would reply that, “The range of choice open to the individual is not the decisive factor in determining the degree of human freedom, but what can be chosen and what is chosen by the individual” (Marcuse, 7). Thus, there is ‘freedom’, but only in as many preset choices as there are available. So then, what is chosen? How is the illusion maintained? As Naomi Klein elucidates in her book, No Logo, this manufactured freedom can readily manifest itself in culture as, “The brand… presented not as ‘commodities’ but as concepts: the brand as experience, as lifestyle” (Klein, 21). A whole lifestyle? YES! “Style is a process of creating commodity images for people to emulate and believe in” (Ewen, 91). Many advertising firms even have consumer psychology departments which are paid to research the most effective methods of marketing products. Whole advertising departments are dedicated to consumer psychology. How many variations and archetypes of Nikes, Tommy Hilfigers, Toyota Tacomas, Barbies, and John Waynes are there?

The function of this instated ideology holds the premise of Marcuse’s One-Dimensional Man:

“Thus emerges a pattern of one-dimensional thought and behavior in which ideas, aspirations, and objectives that, by their content, transcend the established universe of discourse and action are either repelled or reduced to terms of this universe”. Such as “Well I could go to the rally and show support for lecturers bargaining rights but, I am a faculty member and I do get paid well. What do I have to complain about?” Marcuse would add that people’s actions are, “… redefined by the rationality of the given system [in this case, getting paid well] and of its quantitative extension [italics added for emphasis]“. (Marcuse, 12).

A veritable hydra of manufactured ‘choices’, emulated via ideocultural mimesis, await the exercise/exision of one’s freedom.

THE DISCOMFORT OF FRAGMENTATION

“The breaking up of every kind of experience into uniform social units in order to produce faster action and change in form (applied knowledge) has been the secret of Western power over man and nature alike.” (McLuhan, 85)

Another theme within the literature concerns the numbing nature of the fragmentation and disembodiment that often accompanies these technological extensions of the self. Physiological as well as philosophical proofs exist describing its effects. Ewen’s text seems to hint at an explanation for the elusive nature of this process: “…the power of the disembodied image is that it can free itself from the encumbrances posed by material reality and still lay claim to that reality” (Ewen, 90). Naomi Klein succinctly agrees with this ‘power of the disembodied image’ stating that it has currently appeared on-line as “…the purest brands…liberated from the real-world burdens of stores and product manufacturing, these brands are free to soar, less as the dissemination of goods or services than as collective hallucinations” (Klein, 22). The products and ads of consumer culture can now zip through the airwaves at increasingly faster speeds. On some current cellular phones one can check email, get movie listings, and participate in online auctions. All this is set against the digitized Technicolor backdrop of ads for ‘premium’ services, email encryption protection, miniature surveillance cameras, products. The Narcissian inverse of this Ewen holds, is that “Human emotion themselves…[are] becoming objectified into discrete elements, raw material within the standardized production of salesmanship” (Ewen, 84) . Emoticons, Apple’s ‘Think Different’ ads, perfect white teeth, clear skin, a flurry of images to stimulate your emotions, to make you feel a certain way. What does this do? In an article written for Adbusters magazine, Richard DeGrandpre eloquently states:

“…a whole object of desire can be constructed out of bits and pieces of wholesale humanity. The result is a synthetic supermodel that’s digitally perfected, declared the standard template, and then displayed through the gauntlet of the supermarket checkout… Young women have millions of exemplars from which to judge the sizes and shapes of the female body, yet this vast pool of reality is somehow overridden by a narrow band of hyper-reality…Many young women, presented with their own image, fail to ‘see’ what appears on their retinas. Instead, as researchers have documented, they often perceive a distorted ‘fatter’ version of themselves. Again, their sense of reality derives from cumulative experience with the goal of adapting to whatever reality appears most pressing, or ‘valuable’. Unfortunately, for many women, ‘valued’ reality happens to make them sick.” (DeGrandpre, 2)

Ewen notes this discomfort too. “One becomes, by definition, increasingly uncomfortable in one’s own skin.” In fact, he states, “The constant availability of alternative lifestyles to ‘adapt to’, to purchase, thrives on this discomfort” (Ewen, 91). It seems as though the individual is ‘destined to be defined’ as a consumer’. Is this truly our fate, to be fragmented narcissistic consumers tricked and made sick into thinking we are free? This matrix of fragmentation is ubiquitous. It is seen in the manifold products which do the same thing, the different ‘groups’ of friends we keep, the different accounts we keep either financially or email-wise… It even manifests itself in the traditional modes of higher education, with its lack of interdisciplinary dialogue . For instance, one asks, ‘what could biology ever have in common with sociology? When was the last time a physicist sat down with an anthropologist for conversation?’. Marcuse asks, “…how can the people who have been the object of effective and productive domination by themselves create the conditions of freedom?” (Marcuse, 6). Let us now see what we might be able to uncover from other, more modern meme pools…

ALTERNATIVES

Starting from very general ideas only hinted at in the class texts, I shall attempt a challenge to the seeming determinism set forth by McLuhan, Marcuse, and Ewen. I will articulate this contention within the context of the ‘global network’ model set forth by the literature of three politicologists in current political theory regarding the ‘global village’. Namely, Manuell Castells, Margaret Keck, and Kathryn Sikkink. Frances Fox Piven and Richard A.Cloward will also be referenced for the historical context provided by them in their research with poor people’s movements.

Towards the end of the One-Dimensional Man, Marcuse addressed the necessity for a ‘new mode of realization, which corresponded with the ‘new capabilities of society’. His framework, taken from page 220, was as follows:

1) The transcendent project must be in accordance with the real possibilities open at the attained level of the material and intellectual culture. 2) The transcendent project, in order to falsify the established totality, must demonstrate its own higher rationality in the threefold sense that a) it offers the prospect of preserving and improving the productive achievements of civilization; b) it defines the established totality in its very structure, basic tendencies, and relations; c) its realization offers a greater chance for the pacification of existence, within the framework of institutions which offer a greater chance for the free development of human needs and faculties

While Marcuse’s framework seems quite pragmatic it begs clarification of how this ‘transcendent project’ can manifest itself. It seems quite comprehensive in its scope, yet misses an explanation of the crucial sociopolitical context needed to engage it. What historical examples are there? What might some of the characteristics be for the context of this ‘transcendent project’?

THE CONTEXT FOR CHANGE

One previously underemphasized characteristic in Marxist thought, pointed out by Piven and Cloward, is the bi-directional relationship of hierarchical power in capitalist systems. The nature of this peculiarity seems to be a key in bringing Marcuse’s transcendent project to fruition:

Capitalist societies organize production and exchange through networks of specialized and interdependent activities. These networks of co-operation are also networks of contention. They help to shape the interests and values which give rise to conflict…networks of interdependency also generate dispersed power capacities. Agricultural workers depend on landowners, but landowners also depend on agricultural workers, as industrial capitalists depend on workers’, the prince depends in some measure on the urban crowd, and governing elites in the modern state depend on the acquiescence, if not the approval of enfranchised publics.

Another important point brought up by Piven and Cloward is that social and political inequality has been constant throughout history while concentrated periods of insurgency against this inequality has not. Obviously great inequality is a constant struggle but there seems to be a general agreement that “…extraordinary disturbances in the larger society are required to transform the poor from apathy to hope, from quiescence to indignation” (Piven and Cloward, 14). The authors further go on to say that “Just as quiescence is enforced by institutional life…the forms of political protest are also determined by the institutional context in which people live and work” (Piven and Cloward, 14). The labor movement illustrates this point well. Although workers organized and won concessions from oppressive parties (corporations, anti-communist groups and citizens, and the US government), their protest was within a rigid, if not indifferent social and political structure seeking to limit their actions. “In other words, without the power to restrain their presidents, their governors, and often their mayors from using troops against them, workers remained helpless, stripped of the economic power of the strike by the coercive power of the government” (Piven and Cloward, 105). How then, is this power established and used?

A SEED OF HOPE

One rather strong proposition in answering this question may lie embedded in the constant struggle for democracy that has peppered global political and social history. Some examples of resistance which readily come to mind are the American Revolution, the Spanish Revolution, the Parisian Situationist Revolt of1968, the Underground Railroad, the Civil Rights movement, etc., big, obvious ones. A commonality which all of these share is that they were instances of communal resistance manifested within the structure of the larger contextual network. The idea of communal struggle in a networked society is comprehensively discussed in Manuel Castells’ The Power of Identity. I shall quote him at length here:

“For those social actors excluded from or resisting the individualization of identity attached to life in the global networks of power and wealth, cultural communes…seem to provide the main alternative for the construction of meaning in our society…They…are characterized by three main features…They are…reactions to prevailing social trends, which are resisted on behalf of autonomous sources of meaning…defensive identities that function as refuge and solidarity, to protect against a hostile, outside world…[and are] organized around a specific set of values whose meaning and sharing are marked by specific codes of self-identification.” (Castells, 65)

So then, how are outcomes determined? According to Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, a major progenitor of this process lies within the development of nongovernmental organizations. In particular, they argue, it is the rise of international sociopolitical networks that actively influence world development. By inductively drawing upon the grounded theory of “…sociological traditions that focus on complex interactions among actors, on the intersubjective construction of frames of meaning, and on the negotiation and malleability of identities and interests”, Keck and Sikkink garner a more comprehensive perspective of global resistance not offered by traditional theories of government relations to its people. This comes in the form of the transnational advocacy network.

THE TRANSNATIONAL ADVOCACY NETWORK

What exactly is a transnational advocacy network? Traditionally, states and governments have been the agents of change within world politics. However, many non-state actors have interacted with these governments and states as well. Supported by NGOs, they work beyond geopolitical lines of state governance in order to affect changes in other parts of the world. In Activists Beyond Borders, Keck and Sikkink state that, “These interactions are structured in terms of networks…Some involve economic actors and firms. Some are networks of scientists and experts whose professional ties and shared causal ties underpin their efforts to influence policy. Others are networks of activists, distinguishable largely by the centrality of principled ideas or values in motivating their formation” (Keck and Sikkink 1) . Here, identity and its shared values and ideas transcend the confines of ideological state boundaries, thus setting up an alternative space for the contestation of power and identity. TANs also provide for a public discourse involving actors from various perspectives and backgrounds. This diverse context nurtures “…political spaces, in which differently situated actors [can] negotiate…the social, cultural, and political meaning of their joint enterprise” (Keck and Sikkink, 3) . TANs then, serve to promote implementation of new norms based on the reinterpretation of pre-established values and rights. In seeking to change government and state policy structures, “…they ‘frame’ issues to make them comprehensible to target audiences [as well as]…encourage [them]…to ‘fit’ with favorable institutional venues” (Keck and Sikkink, 2). By making issues more accessible to target audiences and creating a space for these issues, a successful campaign can be waged to alter state policies and social contexts. A key example of a successful campaign based on issue reframing was the campaign to end violence against women. Up until the mid 1980s, women’s protection from violence had not been a cohesive social movement with which to base a campaign off of . While there had been networks created surrounding ‘women’s issues’ the scope of their values was not broad enough to synergize the collective interests of all the networks combined into an effective stratagem to end sexist brutality. Furthermore, none of them had been broad enough in their approach to consider violence against women as a human rights issue. Part of what kept the movement from catalyzing was the individualization and fragmentation of human rights interests, augmented by the seemingly divergent goals of the various women’s advocacy networks. While the historical struggle for women’s rights birthed a social structure in which to cultivate a general ideology, it was the direct action of TANs building up the necessary information needed to develop a transnational public discourse to buttress the success of the campaign:

“…convergence around the issue of violence against women was the result of creating a category for discussion and action that linked concerns of women around the world… This strategic focus forced transnational activists to search for a basic common denominator – [original text unitalicized] the belief in the importance of the protection of the bodily integrity of women and girls – which was central to liberalism, and at the same time at the core of understandings of human dignity in many other cultures (Keck and Sikkink, 170-172)

By providing a common frame of reference for advocacy, it allowed the TANs to ‘attract allies and bridge cultural differences’, a key tactic in any kind of communal resistance.

CONCLUSION

“As long as we adopt the Narcissus attitude of regarding extensions of our own bodies as really out there and really independent of us, we will meet all technological challenges with the same sort of banana-skin pirouette and collapse.” (McLuhan, 68)

Yet we still have trouble finding where our minds are. So what now? McLuhan has hinted that it is art which holds the key to transformation. “Artists in various fields are always the first to discover how to enable one medium to use or release the power of another” (McLuhan, 54), he says, “The hybrid or the meeting of two media is a moment of truth and revelation from which new form is born. For the parallel between two media holds us on the frontiers between forms that snap us out of the Narcissus-narcosis. The moment of the meeting of media is a moment of freedom and release from the ordinary trance and numbness imposed by them on our senses.” (McLuhan, 55). This seems to go along with current theory about convergence, the unification of all media. Castells holds that it is people, interacting with the productive forces of new media technology, reinterpreting and digitizing the symbols, images, and memes of cultures around the world, guiding the process of informational globalization, a ‘milleux of innovation’, if you will. Castells writes in The Rise of the Network Society, ‘There is… a close relationship between the social processes of creating and manipulating symbols (the culture of society) and the capacity to produce and distribute goods and services (the productive forces). For the first time in history, the human mind is a direct productive force, not just a decisive element of the production system’ (Castells, 31). We are becoming increasingly defined (or undefined) by our “…capacity to translate all inputs into a common information system, and to process such information at increasing speed, with increasing power, at decreasing cost, in a potentially ubiquitous retrieval and distribution network’ (Castells, 31). However, it still seems that our country is based more upon the struggle for democracy rather than democracy being the foundation with which we all work from. While technology has the power to limit and control human experience, it is not an individualized, one-way relationship. The sustenance and meaning which will nurture our progress lies in us continuing that struggle, that work – that essential dialogue of any democratic system together.

Works Cited

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Castells, Manuel The Rise of the Network Society. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc. 1997

Castells, Manuel The Power of Identity. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc. 1997

Cloward, Richard A.; Piven, Frances F. Poor Peoples Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail New York, NY: Random House. 1979

Cloward, Richard A.; Piven, Frances F. Eras of Power, (web article) http://www.monthlyreview.org/198piven.htm. accessed October1998

Ewen, Stuart All-Consuming Images: The Politics of Style in Contemporary Culture. New York, NY: Basic Books. 1998

Keck, Margaret; Sikkink, Kathryn. Activists Beyond Borders. Ithaca and London: Cornell. 1998

Marcuse, Herbert One Dimensional Man. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. 1991

McLuhan, Marshall. The Medium is the Message. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press 1994

United Nations. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 1999. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999