Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life
by David Boyle
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Getting real is the next big thing in Western living - the determined rejection of the fake, the virtual, the spun and the mass-produced, in the search for authenticity. There's a revolution going on and (however unconsciously) we're all already part of it. Welcome to the New Realism. The charms of the global and virtual future we were all brought up to expect, where meals would be eaten in the form of pills and machines would do all our work, have worn rather thin. It's not that we don't show more want all the advantages of progress - we do - we just want a future that manages to be local and real too. Tracking the struggle for reality from Japanese theme parks to mock-Tudor villas and from Byron to Big Brother, this book explains where our reactions against spin and fakeness come from - and where they are going. The current revival of real food, real business, real culture flies in the face of expert opinion from politicians, economists, advertisers and big business - and they're having to run to keep up as our hype attention-span gets ever shorter. show lessTags
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In a clear prose, Boyle describes the indicators of the waning of postmodernism and advocates the 'new realism' that he sees as its successor. The mixture of strong research, firm opinions and a journalist's brio is accessible and engaging.
Hardly a week passes without some topic in this book making the news - advertising to children; GM contamination and so on and so on.
Those readers steeped in Postmodernism will be left wondering what all the fuss is about. For those of Socialist leanings will be annoyed - Capitalism is not yet some antiquated system. The rest will find much here to identify with and a lot less to disagree with.
Boyle is aware that 'authenticity' can be replaced with a whole list of alternatives: "meaningful", "homespun" and so on. His solution is on equally dodgy footing - the "new realism".
I so want Boyle to factor in class struggle, inequality or even explore what might happen when we wash our hands of failing politics altogether. Instead he takes up show more much of the book with signs; So anyone familiar with Jean Baudrillard's concepts will be left disappointed.
On a positive note; there are several signposts here to other social commentators and it is a fine appraisal of the ailments afflicting, especially Britain, though not solely, the modern world. Thankfully supported by a through, helpful index. show less
Those readers steeped in Postmodernism will be left wondering what all the fuss is about. For those of Socialist leanings will be annoyed - Capitalism is not yet some antiquated system. The rest will find much here to identify with and a lot less to disagree with.
Boyle is aware that 'authenticity' can be replaced with a whole list of alternatives: "meaningful", "homespun" and so on. His solution is on equally dodgy footing - the "new realism".
I so want Boyle to factor in class struggle, inequality or even explore what might happen when we wash our hands of failing politics altogether. Instead he takes up show more much of the book with signs; So anyone familiar with Jean Baudrillard's concepts will be left disappointed.
On a positive note; there are several signposts here to other social commentators and it is a fine appraisal of the ailments afflicting, especially Britain, though not solely, the modern world. Thankfully supported by a through, helpful index. show less
The idea of humanity shying away from technical and artificial things is hardly new, but Boyle explains and articulates his theories on natural and ‘unspun’ ways of life with hearty enthusiasm.
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58+ Works 1,565 Members
David Boyle is the author of several books about history, ideas, and the future. His Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life helped put the search for authenticity on the agenda as a social phenomenon, while Funny Money: In Search of Alternative Cash launched the "time banks movement" in the UK. His work on the history and show more future of money has also been published in many books and pamphlets. He has stood for Parliament and undertaken an independent review for the UK Treasury and Cabinet Office. show less
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