Leaving the Twentieth Century: Situationist Revolutions

The acclaimed history of the groundbreaking Situationist movement

The Situationist International, which leaped to the fore during the Paris tumult of 1968, has extended its revolutionary influence right up to the present day. In Leaving the Twentieth Century, the movement is captured for the first time in its full range and diversity.

McKenzie Wark traces the group's development from the bohemian Paris of the '50s to the explosive days of May '68. She introduces the group as an ensemble, revealing the work and activities of thinkers previously obscured by the reputation of founding member Guy Debord. Roaming through Europe and exploring the vital lives its members--including Constant, Asger Jorn, Michèle Bernstein, Alexander Trocchi, and Jacqueline de Jong--Wark uncovers a group riven with conflicting passions. She follows the narrative beyond 1968, to the Situationists International's disintegration and beyond: the ideas of T. J. Clark, the Fourierist utopia of Raoul Vaneigem, René Vienet's earthy situationist cinema, Gianfranco Sanguinetti's pranking of the Italian ruling class, Alice Becker-Ho's account of the anonymous language of the Romany, and Debord's late films and his surprising work as a game designer.

Author: McKenzie Wark
Publisher: Verso
Published: 08/20/2024
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.83lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.63w x 1.07d
ISBN13: 9781804294864
ISBN10: 1804294861
BISAC Categories:
- Philosophy | Political
- Political Science | History & Theory | General
- Art | Art & Politics

About the Author
McKenzie Wark is best known for a series of books of twenty-first century critical theory, including A Hacker Manifesto, Gamer Theory, and Capital is Dead. She has also written works that contribute to an alternate history of Marxism, including Leaving the Twentieth Century and Molecular Red. Her survey books on contemporary theory and problems in collaborative knowledge production are General Intellects and Sensoria. She also writes in an autotheoretical style in books such as Dispositions, Philosophy for Spiders, Raving and Love and Money, Sex and Death. She is a professor of media and cultural studies at a university in New York.