Background condition

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Fordist modernism understood that inserting the individual into a larger, overarching plan—be it for a city or a corporation—would appear to give a logical rationale to the process of mass industrialization while providing a theological relief from the uncertainties of modernity, creating a sort of Hawthorne Effect in the public realm. If initially the plan forced individuals to look inward and discipline themselves, the need for constant adjustment and better guidance led Fordist modernism to more explicitly guide individuals from outside. Through the Stimulus Progression, Muzak was an early form of such human programming. Turning to the background condition instead of plans is a more contemporary approach that does away with the need to guide individuals directly.

For the contemporary world the plan, which addresses the individual as individual, is too direct. We do not mean to suggest that Althusser’s idea that ideology interpellates the individual was wrong, only that individuals are increasingly dissolving and that interpellation is the last thing that power needs. On the contrary, both plan and ideology are obsolete. Turning to the background condition instead is a more contemporary approach that does away with the need to guide individuals directly.

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