 | |
| Author | Chris Hedges |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Nation Books |
Publication date | 2009 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 232 |
| ISBN | 978-1-56858-437-9 |
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle is a 2009 nonfiction book by American journalist Chris Hedges. Empire of Illusion examines a claimed cultural decay in the United States as a result of a malignant consumer culture and corporate influences. [1]
Empire of Illusion begins with an exploration of the narratives found in World Wrestling Entertainment competitions, noting the increased use of class, family, and sexual conflict. Hedges compares the spectacle to Plato's allegory of the cave, and argues that the invented celebrity culture of the wider entertainment world is creating with it a population divorced from understanding reality. Hedges furthers that the rise of artificial relationships and pseudo-events has political implications, particularly with the creation of celebrity status for politicians.
The following chapter decries the abuses against women in the American sex industry. Hedges notes the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases in the industry, the rampant violation of consent in pornographic productions, the intentional monetization of adolescent viewership, and profiles the testimonies of women who were traumatized by sex abuse while performing in pornography. Hedges compared the abuse and psychological degradation in pornographic productions to the torture of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib, and shared critical observations regarding his trips to Las Vegas and an AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. [2]
In the third chapter, Hedges accuses institutions of higher education, especially prestigious American universities, of prioritizing the teaching of sophisticated systems management over all other fields of inquiry. [2] Hedges charges that universities, at the behest of corporate and defense industry interests, created an academia that lacks critical thinking, overvalues strict analysis and utility, retreats into specialized language, overly accommodates students from wealthy families, indulges in bloated athletics spending, and sacrifices faculty support and the humanities. The end result, Hedges claims, is that higher education is chained to servicing decaying financial and corporate structures without the ability to critically examine and correct its role in the United States.
This chapter is a criticism of positive psychology and self-help media. [2] Hedges denounces positive psychology by pointing to its possible pseudoscientific leanings and the pervasive interests of corporations in the field that seek greater productivity and satisfaction from workers. Hedges charges that advances in positive psychology amount to a corporate campaign to pathologize worker dissent and protest in the name of improving mental health.
The final chapter of Empire of Illusion is dedicated to the political implications of an American culture formed by illusion. Hedges claims that the current United States of America is wholly unrecognizable to its historic form, especially in regards to the loss of civic religion and infrastructure. Hedges argues that worsening economic injustice related to outsourcing and medical debt may lead to collapse, and that unaccountable corporations have seized critical state functions through lobbying and privatization. Hedges laments the potential for a fascist corporate takeover with disingenuous Christian trappings, but balances that vision with a message on the unconquerable power of love.
Reviews by Laura Penny in The Globe and Mail [2] and by Tirdad Derakhshani in The Philadelphia Inquirer [3] both described Empire of Illusion as a jeremiad. Penny commented that the book may have mixed appeal for being a "declinist screed," and added that Hedges should have taken advantage of analyzing toxic Internet cultures.
Brian Bethune of Maclean's gave a positive review of the book, calling it a "remarkable, bracing and highly moral" lamentation that was "not likely to win a lot of new friends." [4]
Caridad Svich called Empire of Illusion an "impassioned, mournful book" with "strong and fiery writing" that delivers an effective message, but criticized some of its "overblown" rhetoric and charged that the book would have benefited from more thorough references to earlier works on the subject. Svich concluded that Hedges' "elegiac shout is a fully felt and bracing lament" for the deferred revitalization of American democracy. [5]
A July 2021 San Antonio Express-News review by Dennis Patrick Slattery was positive, saying that "[Hedges'] cultural diagnoses have become more prescient and more ubiquitous with time." [1]
Empire of Illusion was featured in a National Public Radio segment [6] and inspired an art exhibit by Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf called "The Empire of Illusion." [7]
In a Genocide Studies and Prevention book review, Virginia Commonwealth University professor Herb Hirsch argued that Hedges, in describing an increasingly disengaged American population, may have also elucidated a real risk for American passivity in the event of human rights abuses or genocide. [8]
Pornography addiction is the popular but unscientific application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. Pornography may be part of compulsive sexual behavior with negative consequences to one's physical, mental, social, or financial well-being. While the World Health Organization's ICD-11 (2022) has recognized compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (CSBD) as an "impulsive control disorder", CSBD is not an addiction, and the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 (2013) and the DSM-5-TR (2022) do not classify compulsive pornography consumption as a mental disorder or a behavioral addiction.
Edward Samuel Herman was an American economist, media scholar and social critic. Herman is known for his media criticism, in particular the propaganda model hypothesis he developed with Noam Chomsky, a frequent co-writer. He held an appointment as Professor Emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. He also taught at Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Swan is an American reality television series broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). It premiered on April 7, 2004, while its eighteenth and final episode aired on December 20, 2004. The series was hosted by Irish television presenter Amanda Byram.
The Society of the 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 text for the Situationist movement. Debord published a follow-up book Comments on the Society of the Spectacle in 1988.
Ariana Jollee is an American pornographic actress and director of Italian and Russian descent.
Christopher Lynn Hedges is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, author, and commentator.
A post-literate society is a hypothetical society in which multimedia technology has advanced to the point where literacy, the ability to read or write, is no longer necessary or common. The term appears as early as 1962 in Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy. Many science-fiction societies are post-literate, as in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Dan Simmons' novel Ilium, and Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story.
David White was an American stage, film, and television actor best known for playing Darrin Stephens' boss Larry Tate from 1964 to 1972 on the ABC situation comedy Bewitched.
Gonzo pornography is a style of pornographic film that attempts to place the viewer directly into the scene. Jamie Gillis is considered to have started the gonzo pornography genre with his On the Prowl series of films.
The Gene Illusion is a 2003 book by clinical psychologist Jay Joseph, in which the author challenges the evidence underlying genetic theories in psychiatry and psychology. Focusing primarily on twin and adoption studies, he attempts to debunk the methodologies used to establish genetic contributions to schizophrenia, criminal behaviour, and IQ. In the nature and nurture debate on the causes of mental disorders, Joseph's criticisms of genetic research in psychiatry have found their place among those who argue that the environment is overwhelmingly the cause of these disorders, particularly with psychiatry critic Jonathan Leo, and with Oliver James. It was also reviewed favorably in Choice and the British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Some of the conclusions of The Gene Illusion have been criticized in reviews of the book.
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America is a 2007 non-fiction book by the American journalist Chris Hedges. American Fascists profiles the rise of an American Christian right, and argues that the politically active bloc possesses the features of a fascist movement.
Douglas Kellner is an American academic who works at the intersection of "third-generation" critical theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School, and in cultural studies in the tradition of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, or the "Birmingham School". He has argued that these two conflicting philosophies are in fact compatible. He is currently the George Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Psychology of The Simpsons: D'oh! is a non-fiction book analyzing psychology themes in the television series The Simpsons. It contains content from several contributors, including psychologists, counselors and school therapists. The book was edited by Alan S. Brown, Ph.D., and Chris Logan, and was published on March 1, 2006, by BenBella Books. It has praise from reviewers.
Death of the Liberal Class is a 2010 book by the American journalist Chris Hedges. Hedges writes on left-wing politics in the United States, and asserts the decline of a privileged and increasingly ineffectual "liberal class" due to corporate political dominance.
In cultural studies, media culture refers to the current Western capitalist society that emerged and developed from the 20th century, under the influence of mass media. The term alludes to the overall impact and intellectual guidance exerted by the media, not only on public opinion but also on tastes and values.
Anne García-Romero is a playwright, screenwriter, scholar, and professor.
Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt is a 2012 illustrated non-fiction book authored by Chris Hedges and illustrated by Joe Sacco, chronicling life in poverty in different parts of the United States.
The culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within a societal dimension. The concept of violence being ingrained in Western society and culture has been around for at least the 20th century. Developed from structural violence, as research progressed the notion that a culture can sanction violent acts developed into what we know as culture of violence theory today. Two prominent examples of culture legitimizing violence can be seen in rape myths and victim blaming. Rape myths lead to misconstrued notions of blame; it is common for the responsibility associated with the rape to be placed on the victim rather than the offender.
Mary Welch was an American stage actress on Broadway.
Nolan Higdon is a critical media literacy scholar and media personality. He is also an author and university lecturer of history and media studies. Higdon has been a lecturer at University of California, Santa Cruz and California State University, East Bay. Higdon is considered an expert in critical media literacy, digital culture, higher education, journalism, fake news, and news media history. Higdon is frequently featured as an expert voice in documentaries and news outlets such as ABC, CBS, CNBC, NewsNation, NBC, New York Times, PBS, and the San Francisco Chronicle.