Power and politics in hyperreality: The critical project of Jean Baudrillard

This article describes and examines the critical thinking of Jean Baudrillard, especially in relation to his views of modernity and postmodernity. At the center of his critique of modern and postmodern society is his notion of hyperreality, or the fabricated system of meaning that limits human participation in the world to the role of consumer or responder, rather than producer or initiator. In contrast to Baudrillard, traditional conceptions of human organization will be examined in order to assess the impact that Baudrillard's work has on social scientific views of collective and political action.