Siegfried Kracauer stands out as one of the most significant theorists and critics of the twentieth century, acclaimed for his analyses of film and popular culture. However, his writing on propaganda and politics has been overshadowed by the works of his contemporaries and colleagues associated with the Frankfurt School. This book brings together a broad selection of Kracauer’s work on media and political communication, much of it previously unavailable in English. It features writings spanning more than two decades, from studies of totalitarian propaganda written in the 1930s to wartime work on Nazi newsreels and anti-Semitism through to examinations of American and Soviet political messaging in the early Cold War period. These varied texts illuminate the interplay among politics, mass culture, and the media, and they encompass Kracauer’s core concerns: the individual and the masses, the conditions of cultural production, and the critique of modernity. The introduction and afterword explore the significance of Kracauer’s contributions to critical theory, film and media studies, and the analysis of political communication both in his era and the present day. At a time when demagoguery and bigotry loom over world politics, Kracauer’s inquiries into topics such as the widespread appeal of fascist propaganda and the relationship of new media forms and technologies to authoritarianism are strikingly relevant.

To become a successful political communicator (and a savvy political consumer), it is essential to know the elements of social influence, what works, and why. Strategic Political Communication provides an introduction to persuasion, social influence, and propaganda tactics, focusing on political communication. This rich, well-documented work looks at the power of language, the importance of targeting a specific audience, and the significance of interpersonal relationships, among other key issues. It further examines propaganda in order to understand how communicators can best exercise influence in contemporary society.

A study of propaganda in relation to twentieth-century democracy.

What impact do news and political advertising have on us? How do candidates use media to persuade us as voters? Are we informed adequately about political issues? Do 21st-century political communications measure up to democratic ideals? The Dynamics of Political Communication: Media and Politics in a Digital Age explores these issues and guides us through current political communication theories and beliefs. Author Richard M. Perloff details the fluid landscape of political communication and offers us an engaging introduction to the field and a thorough tour of the d.

How effective are election campaign posters? Providing a unique political history, this book traces the impact that these posters - as well as broadsides, banners, and billboards - have had around the world over the last two centuries. It focuses on the use of this campaign material in the United States, as well as in France, Great Britain, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, and many other countries. The book examines how posters evolved and discusses their changing role in the twentieth century and thereafter; how technology, education, legislation, artistic movements, advertising, and political systems effected changes in election posters and other campaign media, and how they were employed around the world. This comprehensive and original overview of this campaign material includes the first extensive review of the research literature on the topic. Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion will be useful to scholars and students interested in communications, politics, history, advertising and marketing, art history, and graphic design.

"The Propaganda Society analyzes the rapid expansion of propaganda and promotional activities in the leading 'post-industrial' states under the regime of neoliberalism. With the outsourcing of manufacturing, these states have converted to service, selling, and speculative economies, with a concurrent rapid growth of advertising, marketing, public relations, sales management, branding, and other promotional enterprises. Aided by digital technologies and the removal - 'deregulation' - of political, legal, administrative, and moral barriers to state and corporate expansion on a global scale, a group of dominant political and commercial actors have brought about a common discourse and convergent set of practices rooted in sophisticated and unprecedented levels of propaganda and promotion. Written by leading scholars in the field, each of the eighteen chapters in this book discuss the ways in which elite uses of propaganda have radically transformed media and information systems, political and public culture, the conduct of war and foreign relations, and the overall behavior of the state."-- Back cover.

Propaganda has become an inescapable part of modern American society. On a daily basis, news outlets, politicians, and the entertainment industry -- with motives both dubious and well-intentioned -- launch propagandistic appeals. In Propaganda and American Democracy, eight writers explore various aspects of modern propaganda and its impact. Contributors include leading scholars in the field of propaganda studies: Anthony Pratkanis tackles the thorny issue of the inherent morality of propaganda; J. Michael Sproule explores the extent to which propaganda permeates the U.S. news media; and Randal Marlin charts the methods used to identify, research, and reform the use of propaganda in the public sphere. Other chapters incorporate a strong historical component. Mordecai Lee deftly analyzes the role of wartime propaganda, while Dan Kuehl provides an astute commentary on former and current practices, and Garth S. Jowett investigates how Hollywood has been used as a vehicle for propaganda. In a more personal vein, Asra Q. Nomani recounts her journalistic role in the highly calculated and tragic example of the ultimate act of anti-American propaganda perpetrated by al-Qaeda and carried out against her former colleague, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Propaganda and American Democracy offers an in-depth examination and demonstration of the pervasiveness of propaganda, providing citizens with the knowledge needed to mediate its effect on their lives.Edited by Nancy Snow

The SAGE Handbook of Propaganda unpacks the ever-present and exciting topic of propaganda to explain how it invades the human psyche, in what ways it does so, and in what contexts. As a beguiling tool of political persuasion in times of war, peace, and uncertainty, propaganda incites people to take, often violent, action, consciously or unconsciously. This pervasive influence is particularly prevalent in world politics and international relations today. In this interdisciplinary Handbook, the editors have gathered together a group of world-class scholars from Europe, America, Asia, and the Middle East, to discuss leadership propaganda, war propaganda, propaganda for peace marketing, propaganda as a psychological tool, terror-enhanced propaganda, and the contemporary topics of internet-mediated propaganda. Unlike previous publications on the subject, this book brings to the forefront current manifestations and processes of propaganda such as Islamist, and Far Right propaganda, from interdisciplinary perspectives. In its four parts, the Handbook offers researchers and academics of propaganda studies, peace and conflict studies, media and communication studies, political science and governance marketing, as well as intelligence and law enforcement communities, a comprehensive overview of the tools and context of the development and evolution of propaganda from the twentieth century to the present: Part One: Concepts, Precepts and Techniques in Propaganda Research Part Two: Methodological Approaches in Propaganda Research Part Three: Tools and Techniques in Counter-Propaganda Research Part Four: Propaganda in Context

This is a systematic and accessible introduction to the critical concepts, structures and professional practices of political communication. Lilleker presents over 50 core concepts in political communication which cement together various strands of theory. From aestheticisation to virtual politics, he explains, illustrates and provides selected further reading. He considers both practical and theoretical issues central to political communication and offers a critical assessment of recent developments in political communication.

John Jenks digs into the archives to give a detailed account of British media discourse, news manipulation and propaganda in the early Cold War.