Propaganda

"A far more frightening work than any of the nightmare novels of George Orwell. With the logic which is the great instrument of French thought, [Ellul] explores and attempts to prove the thesis that propaganda, whether its ends are demonstrably good or bad, is not only destructive to democracy, it is perhaps the most serious threat to humanity operating in the modern world."
--Los Angeles Times

"The theme of Propaganda is quite simply...that when our new technology encompasses any culture or society, the result is propaganda... Ellul has made many splendid contributions in this book."
--Book Week

"An exhaustive catalog of horrors.  It shows how modern, committed man, surrounded and seized by propaganda, more often than not surrenders himself to it only too willingly, especially in democracies--because he is educated for his rule as dupe.  'The most favorable moment to seize a man and influence him,' Ellul writes, 'is when he is alone in the mass; it is at this point that propaganda can be most effective.  This is the situation of the 'lonely crowd,' or of isolation in the mass, which is a natural product of modern-day society, which is both used and deepened by the mass media.' "
--Los Angeles Free Press

Contents

I. The Characteristics of Propaganda
1. Eternal Characteristics
2. Internal Characteristics
3. Categories of Propaganda

II. The Conditions for the Existence of Propaganda
1. The Sociological Conditions
2. Objective Conditions of Total Propaganda

III. The Necessity for Propaganda
1. The State's Necessity
2. The Individual Necessity

IV. Psychological Effects of Propaganda

V. The Socio-Political Effects
1. Propaganda and Ideology
2. Effects on the Structure of Public Opinion
3. Propaganda and Grouping
4. Propaganda and Democracy

Appendix I: Effectiveness of Propaganda
1. Difficulties of Measuring Effectiveness
2. Ineffectiveness of Propaganda
3. Effectiveness of Propaganda
4. The Limits of Propaganda

Appendix II: Mao Tse-tung's Propaganda
1. The War: From 1926-1949
2. Since 1949
3. Brainwashing