he American War of
Independence against the British. By extension, client states of western powers are
deemed legitimate users of violence, e.g. Indonesia under Suharto or Chile under
Pinochet, but states that are not supportive of the western democracies, e.g., Cuba, are
deemed illegitimate users of violence.
d. how the media explain conflict
Karim draws upon the influential research by social theorist Jacques Ellul, notably his
concept of “integration propaganda,” to understand how media represent violence. In his
famous 1961 book, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, Ellul distinguished
between types of propaganda. Among them, “integration propaganda” was propaganda
aimed at producing conformity in attitude, thought, and behaviour, thereby integrating the
public at large with the goals and outlook of their state and other official institutions. Politics and Communication 2-14
“Agitation propaganda,” the more conventional view of propaganda, is propaganda used to
move people to feel or think strongly about some cause, issue or theme. The smiling face
of Uncle Sam on a U.S. Army recruiting poster declaring “I Want You” is a mild familiar
example of agitation propaganda. Ellul was especially interested in the role of technology
in advanced societies as a means by which publics were disciplined and their opinions
homogenized. A technological attitude, what Ellul called “technique,” embedded itself
deeply to the point where hu英语论文网 【http://www.51lunwen.org】manity was placed at the service of the machine, of
bureaucracy, and of related values like efficiency and productivity. His definition of
integrative propaganda, excerpted below from Propaganda, reflects this. Ellul writes:
"Propaganda is called upon to solve problems created by technology, to play on
maladjustments, and to integrate the individual into a technological world.
Propaganda is a good deal less the political weapon of a regime (it is that also) than
the effect of a technological society that embraces the entire man and tends to be a
completely integrated society." (xvii)
The media make use of authorized “knowers”—experts and pundits with the official seal of
approval—to ensure that public debate remains within what social critic and linguist Noam
Chomsky called “manufactured consent.” Alternative views are marginalized as much by
intention as by the “sheer ubiquity, omnipresence, and maneuverability” of dominant
discourses. As major guardians of hegemony, the media draw upon more than mere
factual information to build their case for a particular view of the world. Rather, they have
available stereotypes, catchphrases, and most profoundly, the deeper cognitive structures
in a given culture that can be animated for a particular purpose.
Individual events are then regularly referred back to these largely unconscious mental
patterns, making complex phenomena instantly interpretable to Western consumers of
news. Th
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