''In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities, Or, the End of the Social'' (french: À l’ombre des majorités silencieuses ou la fin du social) is a 1978

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Tre ...

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as ...

, in which he analyzes the masses and their relation to meaning. Baudrillard praises the masses for their resistance to the mass media and 'the social', for their "direct defiance of the

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

"IN THE SHADOW OF THE SILENT MAJORITIES, OR THE END OF THE SOCIAL AND OTHER ESSAYS Translated by Paul Foss, Paul Patton and John Johnston. Semiotext(e), Inc. 522 Philosophy Hall, Columbia University. New York City, New York 10027 and for "victoriously resist ngthe media by diverting or absorbing all the messages which it produces without responding to them".

Publication history

The first edition of the book was published in the final issue of the magazine ''Les Cahiers d'Utopie'' in 1978. It was translated to English by Paul Foss, John Johnston and Paul Patton, and published by the Foreign Agents imprint of

Semiotext(e) Semiotext(e) is an independent publisher of critical theory, fiction, philosophy, art criticism, activist texts and non-fiction. History Founded in 1974, ''Semiotext(e)'' began as a journal that emerged from a semiotics reading group led by Syl ...

in 1983. A second edition was published in 2007.

Main ideas

In the 1970s, magazines such as ''Utopie'', ''Noir et rouge'', ''ICO'', ''Socialisme ou Barbarie'', ''Pouvoir ouvrier'', and the

Situationists The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

were unconditionally opposed to the official culture. They saw the masses as hypnotized into submission by a "

society of the spectacle ''The Society of the Spectacle'' (french: La société du spectacle) is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. The book is considered a seminal ...

." However, Baudrillard interpreted the passivity of the masses in a different way. The work starts with the idea that meaning has been devalued. "For a long time, capital had only to produce goods; consumption ran by itself... Today it is necessary to produce consumers, to produce demand, and this production is infinitely more costly than that of goods." The same applies to meaning. "Today, everything has changed; no longer is meaning in short supply, it is produced everywhere, in ever increasing quantities – it is demand which is weakening... Everywhere the masses are encouraged to speak... They are urged to live socially, electorally, organizationally, sexually, in participation, in festival, in free speech, etc." The central point of the book is that the masses actively refuse meaning. It is an explicit break with

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. While modernity laments the ignorance of the docile masses, Baudrillard argues that the indifference of the masses to political events, history, art, and culture, is actually "a collective retaliation" and "a refusal to participate in the recommended ideals, however enlightened." All the masses can do - and all they will do - is enjoy the spectacle. Since "their representation is no longer possible," the masses are probed by means of surveys, polls, and tests. Politics is forced to rely on

simulations A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...

of the people as a substitute. Masses are "far too conforming to every solicitation and with a

hyperreal Hyperreal may refer to: * Hyperreal numbers, an extension of the real numbers in mathematics that are used in non-standard analysis * Hyperreal.org, a rave culture website based in San Francisco, US * Hyperreality, a term used in semiotics and po ...

conformity which is the extreme form of non-participation." As Baudrillard stated in a later interview: "People do in fact defend themselves, they have their defensive and even offensive strategies; but this time, through indifference."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities 1978 non-fiction books Books about hyperreality Books by Jean Baudrillard French non-fiction books Metaphysics books Works about postmodernism Semiotext(e) books

Publication history

Main ideas

See also

References