culture de-jamming

nickiewild says:

I would have to disagree with enteringthewhirlpool’s comments above:
“Nothing to do with ‘resistance’ against ‘capitalism’, just an all out scramble of ideas against ideas.” Many who regard themselves as culture jammers take the activities they do very seriously, and would disagree strongly that they are just “poking fun.” For many of them, it is ideological warfare using satire and invective as weapons.

I think nathan jurgenson’s post here is especially timely, considering the rise of “astroturfing” in the U.S.: corportate-sponsored PACs and companies themselves organizing people into “protesting” health care reform at town hall meetings! It is rumored that the same thing may happen when the focus turns to energy policy.

enteringthewhirlpool says:

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I started reading “Shogun” by James Clavell and have thus been temporarily transported to the sixteenth century.

nickiewild, you are of course correct that many who regard themselves as culture jammers do indeed take their activities seriously. What I meant to say was that there are plenty of people who use similar techniques to these people, but who have no ideological agenda.

I’m following the U.S. healthcare debate with interest, likewise the strategies employed by the participants. That’s not really for this thread….. though whilst on the subject of satire this guide to distinguishing genuine healthcare protestors from astroturf is about as funny as they come.

nathanjurgenson says:

enteringthewhirlpool, briefly, the “logic” of capitalism in the way i’m using it above is simply the system by which capitalism operates. this creates structures, practices, tendencies, discourses, thought patterns, etc that focus on creating and accumulating capital. (apologies for the off-the-cuff definition and the cheap “etc” in it)

western society is so ingrained with capitalism that we can say it becomes this “logic”. it becomes almost unquestioned and unobserved in its very ubiquity and diffusion.

people complain when art enters the “logic” of capitalism becuase what sells the most might not be of high artistic quality (i dont want to define that!). or when people complain that US news is largely based on ratings, not accuracy. under *the logic of capitalism*, Fox News and CNN are far more successful and influential then BBC or NPR.

so there is a strong overlap between the “logic” and what you described as people “doing what they do” in that the logic is often unconscious. i dont think corporations are sitting around and consciously trying to tear down the anti-capitalists, they are doing what they do. but the logic of capitalism is to profit off whatever one can, to find new ways of creating capital, and doing so off of anti- or non-capitalist motives is a particularly interesting case (to me, at least).

nathanjurgenson says:

kiyallsmith: i think so. in a few years we might look back and document the many ways in which capitalism reacted (or continues to react) to “The Great Recession”, essentially “grasping at straws”, as you say. ~nathan

enteringthewhirlpool says:

The Starbucks Thing

I see the Starbucks example as illustrating this story: once upon a time it was really difficult to get a decent coffee. In the US you would be served something akin to boiling hot water with added barbecue ash. In the UK you would be served instant coffee. Along came the chains selling good quality coffee with plenty of choice of drinks. To tell us that they were serving a good product they heavily promoted their brand. In doing this they changed the market: other coffee shops have stepped their game up in response and espresso drinks of a reasonable quality are sold almost everywhere. This now being the case, the brand loses it’s value and other more tangible features of a cafe (decor, uniqueness, ambience) become relatively more important in consumers’ decisions. Starbucks reacts to this by downplaying its brand, especially in places where people place a high premium on such things.