Fast Spectacle: Reflections on Hurricane Katrina and the Contradictions of Spectacle

Recent years have witnessed the rise of a vast and rapidly expanding literature on the nature of spectacle and the ways in which spectacular images and entertainment codes increasing saturate contemporary society and culture. For Douglas In the work of George Ritzer (2005), spectacles are dramatic public displays that are designed by corporate interests to enhance the predictability, calculability, and efficiency of consumption. The growth of theme parks, shopping malls, tourism, casino gaming, and other "cathedrals of consumption," according to Ritzer, intimate a new society where spectacles are no longer ephemeral or isolated events but are the defining features of consumer capitalism. According to political scientist Murray Edelman (1977), spectacle is a discursive tool that political elites use to construct otherwise mundane events as "crises" in an effort to justify government interventions. Such a strategy also serves to legitimize elite interests, strengthen their power, pacify resistance, and delegitimize alternative explanations of reality. The diverse work of these and other scholars suggest a growing interest in understanding the meaning and significance of spectacle in everyday life. Yet despite much commentary and debate, few scholars agree on how analysts should conceptualize spectacles, what should be the appropriate levels of analysis for assessing the causes and consequences of spectacle, and what data sources researchers should use to examine the impact of spectacles. While many scholars argue that spectacle is increasingly permeating life and culture they disagree over the form, causal impact, and process of development.