Politics 229 - Propaganda and War

This course explores propaganda techniques and mobilization for war. Drawing on recent comparative and historical examples, we will analyze war mobilization strategies and different forms of propaganda, its control, and dissemination from a variety of cross-cultural perspectives. We will address the following questions: Why is propaganda necessary? What is the media's relationship to state propaganda efforts? How do states control information in an age of 'citizen journalists' armed with cell phones? How do activists and protest movements contest state propaganda? We conclude by examining key trends in the development of mass media forms and technologies and their implications for global politics.