Leaving The Twentieth Century: Situationist Revolutions

by McKenzie Wark

The highly-acclaimed history of the ground-breaking Situationist movement, in one volume for the first timeThe Situationist International, who came to the fore during the Paris tumults of 1968, were revolutionary thinkers who continue to influence movements and philosophy into the twenty-first century. Mostly know for Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle as well as other key texts, the group was in fact hugely diverse and radical. In Leaving The 20th CenturyMcKenzie Wark explores the full range of the movement.At once an extraordinary counter history of radical praxis and a call to arms in the age of financial crisis and the resurgence of the streets Wark traces the group’s development from the bohemian Paris of the ’50s to the explosive days of May ’68, Wark’s take on the Situationists is biographically and historically rich, presenting the group as an ensemble creation, rather than the brainchild and dominion of its most famous member, Guy Debord. Roaming through Europe and the lives of those who made up the movement—including Constant, Asger Jorn, Michèle Bernstein, Alex Trocchi and Jacqueline De Jong—Wark uncovers an international movement riven with conflicting passions.She also follows the narrative beyond 1968 to show what happened after the movement disintegration exploring the lives and ideas of T.J. Clark, the Fourierist utopia of Raoul Vaneigem, René Vienet’s earthy situationist cinema, Gianfranco Sangunetti’s pranking of the Italian ruling class, Alice-Becker Ho’s account of the anonymous language of the Romany, Guy Debord’s late films and his surprising work as a game designer.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art, Philosophy, Theory, Politics

416 pages, Paperback

Published August 20, 2024

About the author

McKenzie Wark (she/her) is the author of A Hacker Manifesto, Gamer Theory, 50 Years of Recuperation of the Situationist International, and The Beach Beneath the Street, among other books. She teaches at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College in New York City.

Reviews

[Sophia Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sat with this one for a few months which I think was good because the histories, practices, ideas and theories Wark uncovers informed so many different parts of my life. Still thinking… one to dip back in to when in need of a reminder of how many ways one can live, and theorise, the art of everyday life.

[Raytown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll have to revisit this some day - it's great great stuff. It might be due to my level of knowledge of history & political economy not being quite up to the task that I found parts of the book - which is really two different books, "The Beach Beneath the Street" (2011) and "The Spectacle of Disintegration" (2013) - to be a bit disjointed and rather murky. But overall this was such a trip.