Power, Spectacle and Memory

Frameworks of Power

Political Social Economical E.g. The west's framework/structure of power is very

different to eastern countries

Power

Couple of guys to look at; Michel Foucault (Mainly Social Studies) Max Weber (Economist and sociologist)

“Power and the quest for order is, for most of us, experienced as something quite ordinary: it is often, for example, the kind of thing that you only really know about when you are on the receiving end of it”(Ordering Lives: family, work and welfare, chapter 1: Power: its institutional guises, introduction, page 8 )”

Power

So what does that really mean? Power is something that we experience on a day to

day basis, without sometimes really knowing that its there and effecting the way we live.

e.g. CCTV Tesco Clubcard Subscriptions etc.

Spectacle

To put it simply; The word spectacle is

used to describe an event that is memorable, something that is spectacular.

E.g. Tree man who appeared in the Channel Four documentary recently

It can also however, refer to something of a low cultural shows that operate, such as exploiting freak shows.

Spectacle

Saddam Hussein's statue being toppled Links with power Hoax? Which allows it to be seen more as a spectacle

for American power and not just a symbolic moment in history

Flag over the statues face

Memory

Memory, operates in many different ways and can be a term used to refer to many different things.

Human Memory Cultural Memory Nostalgic Memory

Advertising

Advertising can certainly gain from human and cultural memory.

Recognizable theme, nostalgia etc. Annoying theme, song, bloke singing e.g. Halifax,

Insurance adverts, etc. Everybody remembers the advertisements

Idea's so farTopics to look at

Power The idea of CCTV within society News Cooperation

Spectacle Saddam Hussein and the toppling of his statue

Memory Photography – time and space