Dérive

Article summary

society The dérive ( , "drift") is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, in which participants stop focusing on their everyday relations to their social environment. Developed by members of the Letterist International, it was first publicly theorized in Guy Debord's "Theory of the Dérive" (1956). Debord defines the dérive as "a mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances." Though solo dérives are possible, Debord indicates that the most fruitful numerical arrangement consists of several small groups of two or three people who have reached the same level of awareness, since cross-checking these different groups' impressions makes it possible to arrive at more objective conclusions. In an interview, the sociologist Henri Lefebvre, who was close to the group in its early years, recalled that some early dérives used walkie-talkies to coordinate participants moving through different parts of a city. According to Lefebvre, the aim was to link areas separated in space—one group would explore one neighbourhood while staying in radio contact with another elsewhere—so that the fragmented city could be experienced simultaneously rather than only in succession.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.