I’m trying something a little different and posting a lecture from a class rather than a written post.
This spring, I’m teaching “MW5451 Theology, Technology, and Digital Culture” and this year I decided to spend a little bit more time on Jacques Ellul’s ideas on propaganda because they seemed especially relevant to the rise in conspiracy theories we’ve seen in the last few years, but especially in 2020.
One of Ellul’s big ideas is that propaganda is not about changing people’s minds with misinformation, it’s actually about spurring action through emotional manipulation and person-to-person communication. This is amplified when individuals are isolated while also longing to be part of a crowd, what Ellul calls the “The Lonely Crowd” which sounds eerily similar to people being stuck and home but connected online.
I hope this is helpful to someone out there. Please let me know if you’d like to see more videos like this in future.
Love this – super interesting and thoughtful. Reading Andy Root’s The Congregation in a Secular Age, and he interacts with Hartmut Rosa’s theory of social acceleration. Intrigued by how Ellul and Rosa’s theories could interact more, too! Thanks for sharing!
Much appreciated to hear your thoughts on the current epistemic crisis. I vote for more of this!
I liked this very much and shared it with my daughter who is a criminology professor at Shippensburg University in PA. I liked the ideas and the way you used the media to convey them. I am currently reading your book The Garden to the City. I am a retired teacher and enjoy reading and learning. I would like to see more videos like the one you just shared.
Thank you.