Library:The Birth of the Propaganda State
| The Birth of the Propaganda State | |
|---|---|
| Author | Peter Kenez |
| First published | 1985 |
| ISBN | 978-0-521-31398-8 unverified |
| Role | Analysis |
| Domains | History Politics & Elections |
| Tactics | Propaganda Technique |
The Birth of the Propaganda State is a 1985 book by Peter Kenez.
Summary
Peter Kenez, a historian at the University of California, Santa Cruz, examined how the Bolsheviks built propaganda into the foundations of the Soviet state in its first decade.
Methods of mobilization
Kenez describes agitation trains and ships that carried posters, films and speakers across Russia during the Civil War, the party press, literacy campaigns that doubled as political education, and the use of film and theater.
A new kind of state
His central argument is that the Soviet Union was the first "propaganda state," in which the government aimed not only to control information but to remake the beliefs and behavior of the whole population. He also notes the limits of these efforts in a largely peasant country.
Relevance to Bullshitopedia
Kenez shows how propaganda became a permanent function of government, a model later copied and adapted by many regimes.