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In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari introduce the concept of double articulation: the process through which matter is organized (content) and then given a recognizable structure (expression). This dual-layered process, they argue, forms the basis of stratification—how reality, whether physical, social, or linguistic, is divided into layers that seem natural but are, in fact, systems of control (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 40). It’s not just that things are arranged; they are made meaningful in ways that enforce stability and conformity. This idea is echoed in every corner of life, from language to society, and even in the unconscious.

McLuhan, writing decades earlier, describes a similar phenomenon but applies it specifically to media. He doesn’t use the term “double articulation,” but his most famous phrase, “the medium is the message,” captures its essence. For McLuhan, media work on two levels. First, they transmit content—what we see, hear, or read. But more importantly, they impose form, shaping how we think, perceive, and act (McLuhan, 1964, p. 16). The medium’s structure—its biases, limitations, and assumptions—alters consciousness in ways that often remain invisible. This is why, for McLuhan, the medium’s hidden effects are far more powerful than its overt content.

Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of double articulation as a process of control can be seen in McLuhan’s analysis of print media. Print organizes content linearly—words arranged in sequence—and imposes a linear, cause-and-effect mindset on society. This form, McLuhan argues, shaped centuries of thought, reinforcing hierarchical systems and fostering a mechanistic worldview (McLuhan, 1964, p. 32). Deleuze and Guattari would call this a stratum: a layered system that controls flows of desire and thought by territorializing them—turning chaotic possibilities into ordered structures (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 44).

But both texts also hint at the potential for resistance. Deleuze and Guattari describe deterritorialization—the process through which the order imposed by double articulation breaks down. A flow of matter escapes its form, creating the possibility of something new (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 56). McLuhan observes similar ruptures in media history. The transition from print to television, for instance, dismantled the linear mindset of the print age. Television’s electric immediacy collapsed spatial and temporal boundaries, creating what McLuhan called the “global village”—a chaotic, interconnected world (McLuhan, 1964, p. 93). In both cases, a break from the old stratum produces new configurations, but this freedom is fleeting.

Deleuze and Guattari warn that deterritorialization is often followed by reterritorialization—the process by which the chaos is captured and re-stabilized into a new system of control. McLuhan’s media theory reflects this pattern: each new medium disrupts the old order but eventually becomes a new stratum, with its own biases and constraints (McLuhan, 1964, p. 120). The question both texts pose is: how can we escape a system that constantly reorganizes itself to capture resistance?

Deleuze and Guattari propose radical strategies, such as the Body Without Organs (BwO), a state of pure potential where matter resists form and flows evade control (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987, p. 79). This is a form of resistance that embraces multiplicity and chaos rather than attempting to impose new orders. McLuhan offers a different solution: awareness. He argues that art, as an “anti-environment,” can reveal the hidden biases of media, disrupting the second articulation and exposing the form behind the content (McLuhan, 1964, p. 67).

Ultimately, both texts highlight the relentless nature of double articulation. It is a process as pervasive as geology, shaping the sands of the desert, the structure of language, and the patterns of thought itself. Yet, by understanding its mechanisms, they suggest we may find fleeting moments of freedom to reshape the systems that shape us.

References

Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F., 1987. A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Translated by B. Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

McLuhan, M., 1964. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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