The unbearable ease of depoliticization

 The act of depoliticization implies the removal of a political aspect from something. Through this act, it becomes clear that big industries around the world are blinding us by selling content which was initially of some political or cultural value, but has been turned into a form of pure entertainment for us (the consumers). This is often done for the sake of profit through a wide range of profit maximization strategies. Marxist theory deals with these strategies, patterns used in media ownership as well as the consequences which arise from these two concepts. Marxism as a social theory divides people into two classes: the working class (the proletariat) and the ruling class (the burgeois). The economic value (labor) of the working class is exploited by the ruling class in order to increase surplus value which leads to the main goal being profit.

When it comes to profit, it is a well-known fact that people would go to extreme measures of commercialization in order to achieve their main goal. In her text, "The Unbearable Ease of Depoliticization", Sonja Leboš explains and criticizes how western capitalism has taken over cultural symbols from former Yugoslavian monuments and turned them into profitable pieces of art, advertisement backgrounds and even merchandise, completely undermining their historical value and meaning.  

Furthermore, she tells us about different instances in which this commercializing act of depoliticization occurs. Firstly, we have the book "Spomenik" by Jan Kempenaers, which denotes the monuments as being nothing more than oddly picturesque and fascinating works of art. Kempenaers completely disregards the fact that the monuments themselves were built in commemoration to brave people and soldiers who have fallen during the war, going so far as to not even mention their names and locations. What's even worse is that the same idea of the monuments simply being works of art, was sold by different companies and individuals. This is called the logic of safety, which is a profit maximization strategy which states that "change" and "innovation" are financially risky moves. Some of those individuals were Willem Jan Neutelings and his introduction to Kempenaers' book (Titled "Spomeniks: The Monuments of Former Yugoslavia. Introduction to the work of Jan Kempenaers) as well as Jonathan Jimenez with his book titled "Spomeniks".

Next there is the collective called "The Secret Mapping Experiment" which used visual projections cast onto the Dušan Džamonja monument, claiming to "beautify" the monument. These projections were widely accepted on social media. I believe that the notion of "Spectacle" was used here, since a totally different sensational dimension was added to the monument. 

The online marketing company called "Yunicorns" which did a similar thing. They rebranded the monuments into fashionable accessories such as pins, again insulting their main purpose. The name "Yunicorns" itself is the prime example of depolitization of former Yugoslavia, since the republic is represented as something from a fairy tale, being referred to as a province and the monuments depicting "phantasmic beings". 

The depoliticization does not stop there. An Australian eyewear company called "Valley Eyewear" used a photograph of a monument created by Bogdan Bogdanović for their advertisement. This is another form of a spectacle, since their website gained an enormous traffic increase, despite receiving controversial backlash.

In conclusion, this kind of depoliticization is only one instance of how political and cultural importance can be easily turned into profit. There are many ways for something to be marketed as a "cool" trend or a form of entertainment, when in reality that same trend is actually of greater cultural and political importance, but was obscured through dangerous profiting strategies. We should always be on the lookout for these schemes in order to avoid controversy and insults, being aware that everything has its own backstory.