Friday, July 29, 2011

anti-globalization - book - 2007 - What Would Jesus Buy?: Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse

What Would Jesus Buy?: Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse
Reverend Billy
PublicAffairs
2006
214 pages

Reverend Billy (aka Billy Talen) is the figurehead of an anti-globalization activist group called The Church of Stop Shopping (at some point since 2006 it has been rechristened The Church of Life After Shopping).  The Church is essentially a radical theater troupe with an activist focus on critiquing conspicuous consumption in America via performing a parody of Pentecostal revival meetings in public settings.  The Church of Stop Shopping is one of a number of “culture jamming” activist groups that emerged from the mid-90s to the early 2000s to combine media theory, performance, and radical politics (c.f. The Yes Men for another example of such groups) into an overall strategy for direct action activism that looks back to the 1960s Yippies and Digger movements.  

Talen’s group of pseudo-revival anti-capitalists is interesting for a number of reasons.  While a number of religious groups are already heavily involved with social justice movements (c.f. some of the recent works by Marxo-Catholic literary theorist, Terry Eagleton, such as Reason, Faith and Revolution, also Goran Therborn discusses such activity in his short survey of global Marxism, From Marxism to Post-Marxism?), Talen, who takes on the appearance of a slick and savvy preacher when he performs, adopts the form of spiritual representation most closely associated with ‘televangelism’ and the American religious right.  Talen subverts that religious form by investing it with anti-capitalist fervor but he also maintains the ecstatic immanence of the Pentecostal revival, projecting it onto the image-addicted, senses-deadened shopper of the heavily mediated contemporary urban environment.  

What Would Jesus Buy?: Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse appears to be a book of different aspects of the Church of Stop Shopping experience transposed into text.  The first few chapters are, presumably, transcriptions of some of Reverend Billy’s sermons, replete with neologisms such as “Change-a-lujah!”, words that combine the ecstasy of gnostic exclamations with the soundbyte quality of political slogans.  Thankfully, Billy included a glossary of these terms at the end of his book.  Billy moves from his sermons into describing what motivates his group to act, and describes some of the lead-up to an action.  The Church of Stop Shopping performs often in public or in private (commercial) spaces, and while their actions often appear spontaneous, Talen insinuates that there is careful planning involved when he alludes to having cues that he waits for before springing into full reverend mode.  The book also describes a cross-country tour the Church went on, that brought them to locations such as the Wal-Mart head office and culminated in a visit to Disneyland.  This tour is also covered in a 2007 documentary about the Church, also called What Would Jesus Buy? that is viewable on video.google.com and in segments on Youtube (here's part 1):





What Would Jesus Buy? is an odd book.  It is a textual counterpart to a documentary film, and to a performance group, and naturally the experience of reading the book cannot be the same as crossing the path of a Reverend Billy performance action in person.  Talen’s text is not exactly a strong critique of consumer culture but it is amusing relief from reading heavy anti-globalization texts like Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt’s near-500 page opus, Empire.  The book is, however, useful to anyone conducting research on radical street theater.  Furthermore, there is something interesting about the (fairly long) segment of the book that includes Talen’s responses to individuals who left messages or ‘confessions’ on the Church of Stop Shopping website.  The impression is created that there are many people out there who do seek Talen’s counseling regarding their consumption habits, and Talen always obliges these seekers in his Reverend Billy voice.  This recalls the criticism that Raymond Williams leveled against advertising as a kind of imagery that adopts the forms and representational modes of spiritual art while emptying out it spiritual content.  It also recalls numerous suggestions made by cultural commentators that consumerism leaves people spiritually unfulfilled.  While Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping (now Life after Shopping) may not be a real reverend and church, they ironically seem to return some form of spirituality to the lives of people made desolate by consumerism.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Labels

united states (55) 1990s (25) history (21) 1980s (20) 1960s (19) 2000s (18) 1970s (17) Canada (16) anarchism (15) punk (15) memoir (14) outlaw bikers (14) documentary film (11) civil rights movement (10) new york city (10) film (9) zines (9) 19th century (8) 1950s (7) 20th century (7) black panther party (7) irish republican army (7) 1940s (6) 2010s (6) beats (6) essays (6) hells angels (6) hippies (6) journalism (6) science-fiction (6) street art (6) the troubles (6) England (5) United Kingdom (5) anti-globalization (5) communalism (5) computer hackers (5) exhibition catalog (5) graffiti (5) homeless (5) international (5) labour strike (5) occupy wall street (5) organized labour (5) quebec (5) 1930s (4) France (4) IWW (4) biographical drama (4) dada (4) david graeber (4) drama (4) interviews (4) malcolm x (4) novel (4) provisional IRA (4) psychedelia (4) sncc (4) sociology (4) street gangs (4) surrealism (4) survivalism (4) transcendentalism (4) white nationalism (4) 1920s (3) 4chan (3) BBSs (3) Emma Goldman (3) Europe (3) Karl Marx (3) Texas (3) Toronto (3) anarcho-primitivism (3) anarcho-syndicalism (3) anonymous (3) anthology (3) anti-civilization (3) autobiography (3) banksy (3) comedy (3) critique (3) direct action (3) ethnography (3) football hooligans (3) hacker groups (3) hacking (3) journalistic (3) ku klux klan (3) labour (3) martin luther king jr (3) mongols (3) philosophy (3) radical right (3) reader (3) situationism (3) student movement (3) vagabonds (3) white supremacy (3) william s burroughs (3) /b/ (2) 1910s (2) 1981 Hunger Strikes (2) AFL-CIO (2) Alexander Berkman (2) American South (2) American revolution (2) Andre Breton (2) Arab Spring (2) Australia (2) Baltimore (2) Cromwell (2) English Revolution (2) Fidel Castro (2) Germany (2) Greece (2) Levellers (2) Manchester (2) Marcel Duchamp (2) Max Ernst (2) Mikhail Bakunin (2) Montreal (2) NAACP (2) Peter Kropotkin (2) Portland Oregon (2) Ranters (2) Robin Hood (2) Salvador Dali (2) Southern Poverty Law Center (2) action film (2) animal liberation (2) anti-capitalism (2) anti-war (2) anti-war movements (2) article (2) aryan nations (2) avant-garde (2) bandidos motorcycle club (2) biography (2) black flag (2) black power (2) blek le rat (2) brook farm (2) crime drama (2) critical mass (2) cults (2) cultural criticism (2) david duke (2) design (2) diary (2) dishwasher pete (2) east bay dragons (2) eldridge cleaver (2) environmentalism (2) fan fiction (2) gerry adams (2) historical drama (2) historical survey (2) hobos (2) how to guide (2) indigenous struggle (2) internet memes (2) ireland (2) italy (2) jack kerouac (2) jared taylor (2) john waters (2) john zerzan (2) julian assange (2) keith haring (2) mail art (2) media criticism (2) mohawk warriors (2) mole people (2) murray bookchin (2) musical (2) mysticism (2) nativism (2) new age (2) nomadism (2) northern ireland (2) occupy movement (2) official IRA (2) oka crisis (2) operation black rain (2) oral history (2) paranoia (2) paul goodman (2) philip k dick (2) phone losers of america (2) photobook (2) phreaks (2) piracy (2) posse comitatus (2) prank phone calls (2) primary source (2) revolution (2) sabotage (2) self-publishing (2) shepard fairey (2) spain (2) student protest (2) terrorism (2) the order (2) travel (2) tristan tzara (2) true crime (2) txt files (2) ulrike meinhof (2) underground media (2) unorganized militias (2) 1%ers (1) 17th century (1) 1860s (1) 1900s (1) 1969 (1) 1970 (1) 1972 Bloody Sunday (1) 1980s. memoir (1) 2009 (1) 2011 (1) 2600 Magazine (1) Alberta (1) Alexandros Grigoropoulos (1) Amsterdam (1) Arthur Segal (1) Athens (1) Ben Reitman (1) Bethel (1) Bill Haywood (1) Boston (1) Brad Carter (1) Brendan Hughes (1) British Columbia (1) Burners (1) Burning Man (1) CLASSE (1) Captain Mission (1) Cass Pennant (1) Charles Fourier (1) Chartists (1) Che Guavara (1) Christopher Hill (1) Christopher Street Liberation Day (1) Columbia University (1) DOA (1) Darkthrone (1) David Ervine (1) Dead (1) December 2008 riots (1) Derrick Jensen (1) Dial (1) Diggers (1) Diggers (1650s) (1) Dorothea Tanning (1) Drop City (1) E.D. Nixon (1) East Side White Pride (1) Edward Winterhalder (1) Egypt (1) Emiliano Zapata (1) Emory Douglas (1) Emperor (1) Eric Hobsbawm (1) Eugene V. Debs (1) Exarchia (1) FLQ (1) Factory Records (1) Fenriz (1) French Revolution (1) GLBT rights (1) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (1) Gandhi (1) Gay Activist Alliance (1) Geert Lovink (1) George Washington (1) Georges Janco (1) Great Depression (1) Groote Keyser (1) Harlem (1) Haymarket Bombing (1) Henry David Thoreau (1) Henry Rollins (1) Hillel (1) Ho-Chi Minh (1) Hunter S Thompson (1) Hunter S. Thompson (1) Idaho (1) India (1) Indignados (1) Inter City Firm (1) Irish national liberation army (1) Isidore Isou (1) Jack Cade (1) Jeff Ferrell (1) John Humphrey Noyes (1) Joy Division (1) Kemal Ataturk (1) King Alfred (1) Konstantina Kuneva (1) LETS system (1) Labor Party (1) Lenin (1) Leonora Carrington (1) Lettrisme (1) Libertatia (1) Louis Aragorn (1) Luddites (1) Madagascar (1) Mafiaboy (1) Maine (1) Mao Tse-Tung (1) Maple Spring (1) Marcel Janco (1) Margaret Fuller (1) Mark Rudd (1) Martin McGuinnes (1) Mayhem (1) Michigan Milita (1) Moncton (1) Montgomery Bus Boycott (1) Morris Dees (1) Movement Resource Group (1) Mulugeta Seraw (1) National Film Board (1) Ned Kelly (1) Netherlands (1) New Brunswick (1) Norway (1) OK Crackers (1) Occupy Homes (1) Oklahoma (1) Oklehoma (1) Oneida Community (1) Ontario (1) Oscar Wilde (1) Oslo (1) Owen Sound (1) Pagans Motorcycle Club (1) Palestinian nationalism (1) Patrick Henry (1) Paul Eluard (1) People's Kitchen (1) Phalanx Communities (1) Philadelphia (1) Phillipe Soupault (1) Process Church (1) Quakers (1) Randy Weaver (1) Raoul Vaneigem (1) Raymond Pettibon (1) Rene Magritte (1) Robespierre (1) Robiespierre (1) Romania (1) Rome (1) Rosa Parks (1) Rubell Collection (1) Ruby Ridge (1) Russian Revolution (1) Sacco and Vanzetti (1) Samuel Gompers (1) Sinn Fein (1) Situationist International (1) Society for a Democratic Society (1) Sojourners for Truth and Justice (1) Staughton Lynd (1) Surrealists (1) Switzerland (1) T.A.Z. (1) The Rebels (Canada) (1) Thessaloniki (1) Thomas Paine (1) Timothy McVey (1) Tobie Gene Levingston (1) Tom Metzger (1) Toronto Video Activist Collective (1) Tunisia (1) UVF (1) Ulster Volunteer Force (1) Ultras (1) University of Moncton (1) Varg Vikernes (1) WWII (1) Walt Whitman (1) White Citizen's Council (1) Wisconsin (1) Woody Guthrie (1) Workers' Party of Ireland (1) Yes Men (1) Yolanda Lopez (1) Zurich (1) abbie hoffman (1) abolitionism (1) acadian nationalism (1) amana (1) american renaissance (1) anarchist black cross (1) anarcho-communism (1) andreas baader (1) anti-consumerism (1) anti-rent movement (1) arcades (1) arizona (1) art book (1) art history (1) art strike (1) assata shakur (1) atf (1) automatic writing (1) bandidos (1) bandits (1) bartering (1) bay area (1) bertrand russell (1) bicycles (1) biker church (1) bikies (1) black lives matter (1) black metal (1) black radicalism (1) bob black (1) bob flanagan (1) bobby seale (1) bryon gysin (1) business (1) caledonia conflict (1) cats (1) chicago (1) chicago 68 (1) chicago 8 trial (1) children's book (1) chris carlsson (1) chris kraus (1) church of life after shopping (1) church of stop shopping (1) civil disobedience (1) comic book (1) commentary (1) commune (1) communism (1) confidential informants (1) conscientious objectiors (1) contemporary (1) cope2 (1) core (1) correspondence (1) crimethinc ex-workers collective (1) critical race studies. (1) critque (1) crossmaglen (1) cult of the dead cow (1) cultural theory (1) culture jamming (1) cybercrime (1) cycling (1) daniel domscheit-berg (1) david dellinger (1) david watson (1) dead kennedys (1) debbie goad (1) decollage (1) dishwashing (1) donn teal (1) drag (1) drill (1) drugs (1) dumpster diving (1) dwelling portably (1) ed moloney (1) education (1) educational (1) elliot tiber (1) emmet grogan (1) environmental movement (1) errico malatesta (1) fanzines (1) fay stender (1) feminism (1) ferguson (1) folklore (1) front du liberation du quebec (1) gay pride (1) general strike (1) george jackson (1) georges bataille (1) gerard lebovici (1) gnostic (1) graffiti research lab (1) guerrilla filmmaking (1) guide (1) guy debord (1) guy fawkes (1) hakim bey (1) hans kok (1) harmonists (1) hiphop (1) huey newton (1) humour (1) icarians (1) illegal immigration (1) immigration movement (1) independence movement (1) industrial workers of the world (1) inspirationalists (1) insurrection (1) islamophobia (1) jay dobyns (1) jean baudrillard (1) jean-michel basquiat (1) jello biafra (1) jerry adams (1) jerry rubin (1) joe david (1) johann most (1) john birch movement (1) john cage (1) john lewis (1) journal (1) judith sulpine (1) juvenile literature (1) kathy acker (1) keffo (1) ken kesey (1) kenneth rexroth (1) know-nothings (1) lady pink (1) language rights (1) lifestyle anarchism (1) literature (1) london (1) london ont (1) long kesh (1) los angeles (1) manifesto (1) martha cooper (1) marxism (1) masculinity (1) matthew hale (1) max yasgur (1) may day (1) medgar evers (1) merry pranksters (1) mexican mafia (1) michael hart (1) michael lang (1) micro-currency (1) microcosm publishing (1) middle-east (1) mini-series (1) miss van (1) mlk (1) mockumentary (1) mods and rockers (1) moot (1) nation of islam (1) national vanguard (1) native american party (1) neal cassady (1) neo-confederacy (1) neoconservatism (1) neoism (1) new left (1) noam chomsky (1) nolympics (1) non-violence (1) nonsense (1) north africa (1) notes from nowhere (1) obey giant (1) occupy london (1) occupy oakland (1) october crisis (1) oral biography (1) pacifism (1) parecon (1) peasant rebellion (1) perfectionists (1) photomontage (1) pirate radio (1) pirate utopias (1) poachers (1) poetry (1) polemic (1) police brutality (1) political science (1) popular uprisings (1) portland (1) post-WWII (1) prank (1) protest (1) radical art (1) radical left (1) ralph waldo emmerson (1) real IRA (1) red army faction (1) regis debray (1) retort (periodical) (1) reverend billy (1) rock machine (1) ruben "doc" cavazos (1) san francisco (1) scavenging (1) script kiddies (1) scrounging (1) secession (1) second vermont republic (1) self-published (1) semiotext(e) (1) sexual politics (1) shakers (1) shedden massacre (1) short stories (1) simulation (1) slab murphy (1) slave revolt (1) snake mound occupation (1) social ecology (1) socialism (1) solo angeles (1) sonic youth (1) sonny barger (1) south armagh (1) spirituality (1) squatting (1) stage performance (1) stencil graffiti (1) stewart home (1) sticker art (1) stokley charmicael (1) stokley charmichael (1) stonewall riots (1) straight-edge (1) street theater (1) subgenius (1) survey (1) sylvere lotringer (1) tariq ali (1) teacher (1) ted kaczynski (1) television (1) tent city (1) terror (1) thermidor (1) timothy leary (1) train-hopping (1) tramps (1) trickster (1) trolling (1) tunnel dwellers (1) undercover (1) underground press (1) underground railroad (1) uprising (1) urban infrastructure (1) utopian (1) utopian communities (1) vegan (1) vermont (1) war measures act (1) warez scene (1) weather underground (1) white power skinheads (1) why? (newspaper) (1) wikileaks (1) winnipeg (1) woodstock (1) word salad (1) world church of the creator (1) yippies (1) youth culture (1) z communications (1)