We cordially invite you to our upcoming lecture by Christian Baden on May 8 Thursday 15:00 - 16:30 CET. You can find the zoom link and details below. You can produce a free account on the ECPR webpage to follow and register to our events and also become a member of the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism. Create an account: https://ecpr.eu/MyEcpr/Account/Create Follow and register to events: https://ecpr.eu/Events/StandingGroups Kind regards, ECPR RN on Digital Authoritarianism Steering Committee https://ecpr.eu/group/digital-authoritarianism ---------------------------------- As part of "The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series by the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism "Propaganda as a Social Process: Erecting Monopolies of Truth in a High-Choice Digital Information Environment" by Assoc. Prof. Christian Baden (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Date and time: 8 May 2025, Thursday 15:00 - 16:30 CET Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University) Zoom Link: https://ecpr-eu.zoom.us/j/82908062122?pwd=i5ywnOmb9tICPAKoX0hyo9jhwMxp0Z.1 Meeting ID: 829 0806 2122 Passcode: 588164 Abstract: With the weaponization of digital social media in the context of ongoing conflicts and crises, propaganda has made a forceful return onto the social-scientific research agenda. Yet, much recent work focuses narrowly on the algorithm-assisted dissemination of disinformation. In this conceptual intervention, we argue that the key to understanding contemporary propaganda is not audiences’ exposure to invalid information, but rather, how they determine which contested claims are credible and significant. Shifting focus from propaganda’s epistemic qualities toward its anti-democratic thrust, we define propaganda as a social process geared toward the construction of monopolistic truths and the delegitimization of pluralistic dissent. Drawing upon propaganda practices during Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, and the war between Israel and Hamas, we illustrate how propaganda constructs strategic identity-based narratives to predispose audiences toward selectively accepting propaganda-aligned information while discounting contravening claims. Mobilizing long-standing cultural narratives, propaganda fans perceived identity threat to incentivize supporters to voluntarily participate in the amplification of supportive claims and the active de-legitimization of dissent. Building considerable social pressure capable of dominating public discourse, propaganda cultivates resilient world views capable of withstanding the ubiquitous contradictions characteristic of high-choice digital information environments. Bio: Christian Baden is associate professor at the Department of Communication and Journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His work focuses on the collaborative construction and dynamic negotiation of meanings in political public discourse. Specifically, he studies processes of consensus formation and cultural resonance, contestation and the discursive processing of dissent and polarization. Christian Baden is chair of the European-wide COST network OPINION, and associate editor at the Journal of Communication.