Culture Jam

Tags: knowledge, marketing/brands, media, social mvmts/social change/resistance, culture jam, sociology of culture, 06 to 10 mins
Year: 2010
Length: 9:49
Access: YouTube

Summary: The caption below this YouTube clip notes that "culture jamming...is a mechanism [that seeks to] disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions or corporate advertising. Culture jamming is often seen as a form of subvertising. Many culture jams are simply aimed at exposing questionable political assumptions behind commercial culture so that people can momentarily consider the branded environment in which they live. Culture jams re-figure logos, fashion statements, and product images to challenge the idea of "what's cool," along with assumptions about the personal freedoms of consumption." In teaching an introduction to sociology, I found this clip useful for underscoring the definition of culture as a set of ideas and meanings which people employ to carry out their collective lives. The clip further illustrates the way those meanings are always contested and negotiated. This clip works as an excellent accompaniment to the Frontline episode on the "merchants of cool," and works well to set the stage for a culture jamming video assignment, also posted on The Sociological Cinema. 

Submitted By: Lester Andrist

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