The Amalgamated Mass of Hate: Harold Lasswell's Concept of Propaganda
UDC 32:303.01
Belousov A.B. The Amalgamated Mass of Hate: Harold Lasswell's Concept of Propaganda // Philosophical Reflection on Historiographical and Prospective Tasks of Contemporary Public Law: Collection of Scientific Papers Based on the Outcomes of the First International Scientific Conference to Mark the Centenary of Sergei S. Alexeev (Ekaterinburg, 14 November 2024) / Editor-in-Chief V.N. Rudenko; Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Institute of State and Law, Russian Academy of Sciences.– Ekaterinburg: Institute of Philosophy and Law, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2024.– P. 149-166.
The presented theses consider the concept of propaganda as articulated by American political scientist Harold Lasswell. Lasswell is recognized as part of the first wave of propaganda researchers who published their works in 1920s, and he stands out as the only representative from the academic sphere among them. His renowned work "Propaganda Technique in the World War" (1927) has been included in all propaganda training courses; however, it was not fully translated into Russian until 2021. This delay, along with several other factors, has contributed to the relative obscurity of Lasswell’s propaganda concept within Russian political science. The analysis revealed that his concept of propaganda is fundamentally anchored in the figure of the enemy and the dynamics of hate. Key aspects of hate management are explored in "Propaganda Technique…", ranging from identification of the enemy, assignment of negative attributes to personalization of hate and its transference to other targets in order to destabilize the enemy. Additional strengths of his 1927 work are highlighted, including a systematic approach to the study of military propaganda, a large number of illustrative examples, an introduction of the psychological framework for understanding propaganda, and its situating within organizational, political and technological contexts. An examination of Lasswell’s subsequent investigations into propaganda uncovers two main stages of his research: the conceptual and the quantitative. Nonetheless, despite his shift in focus toward revolutionary propa- ganda in the 1930s, the conceptual core of his work remains grounded in the manipulation of contradictory relationships. It is illustrated that Lasswell’s concept of propaganda is relevant for analyzing con- temporary political public processes in Russia.
