Customers say
Customers find the book well-researched and engaging, with one review noting it provides excellent explanations with modern examples. However, the readability receives mixed feedback, with several customers noting it’s not an easy read.
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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:
How propaganda undermines democracy and why we need to pay attention
Our democracy today is fraught with political campaigns, lobbyists, liberal media, and Fox News commentators, all using language to influence the way we think and reason about public issues. Even so, many of us believe that propaganda and manipulation aren’t problems for us―not in the way they were for the totalitarian societies of the mid-twentieth century. In How Propaganda Works, Jason Stanley demonstrates that more attention needs to be paid. He examines how propaganda operates subtly, how it undermines democracy―particularly the ideals of democratic deliberation and equality―and how it has damaged democracies of the past.
Focusing on the shortcomings of liberal democratic states, Stanley provides a historically grounded introduction to democratic political theory as a window into the misuse of democratic vocabulary for propaganda’s selfish purposes. He lays out historical examples, such as the restructuring of the US public school system at the turn of the twentieth century, to explore how the language of democracy is sometimes used to mask an undemocratic reality. Drawing from a range of sources, including feminist theory, critical race theory, epistemology, formal semantics, educational theory, and social and cognitive psychology, he explains how the manipulative and hypocritical declaration of flawed beliefs and ideologies arises from and perpetuates inequalities in society, such as the racial injustices that commonly occur in the United States.
How Propaganda Works shows that an understanding of propaganda and its mechanisms is essential for the preservation and protection of liberal democracies everywhere.
Our Top Reviews
Reviewer: Dharbour60
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: KNow what you are dealing with
Review: This is a well-researched book on how propaganda has been used throughout history and in different situations, from politics to war.
Reviewer: plgoldsmith
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Invaluable for Getting Through the Election of 2016
Review: I am very deeply grateful to this book for helping me through this tempestuous election year (2016). Be forewarned: this is a work of philosophy. It’s dense. While it is readable, it takes some effort for people who don’t have a philosophical background. But I don’t have a background in philosophy, and I was able to absorb it. I took my time and worked through it slowly. What you have here is not reasoned opinion supported by evidence but a valid argument with evidence and examples. At a time when propaganda is literally grinding the earth to pieces, this has been an invaluable resource for me. I feel I now have a foundation for understanding what I take into my nervous system on a daily basis, even with careful filtering of news sources. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to investigate the origin and power of the illusions that distract us from the single task we should all be focused on, the one that won’t wait: how to mitigate and hopefully survive climate chaos.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This is an excellent read. Jason Stanley gives you a background on …
Review: This is an excellent read. Jason Stanley gives you a background on propaganda, and then proceeds to explain how it works in a liberal democracy like the U.S. In today’s world, with so many things being call “fake” this is a resource that can give us all a baseline from which to draw conclusions. Professor Stanley, keep writing!
Reviewer: Carlos Cortez
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good book for our time
Review: A good read on a contemporary topic of interest. Author is well prepared to delve into the subject and does so in manner that helps a reader to understand the subject content.
Reviewer: Larry Dieli
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The pernicious effects of a big lie
Review: the author is able to supply vivid examples on both the overt and subtle effects of propaganda as it is used to persuade and control a nation. With clarity of purpose to expose the true detrimental damage that is inflicted with the use of this tactic as a governing tool. Highly recommended for these times.
Reviewer: No name
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Little to no original argument presented, but not bad enough for one star
Review: I think Stanley tries to do a lot in this book and unfortunately accomplishes very little. I think the link for equal distribution and epistemic inequality could use more focus. This book was a bit annoying to read, he went from referencing one philosopher to then referencing a sociologist to referencing another philosopher and then inserting premises as he sees fits, ergo the organization and format of this book was poor. However, I think there are some good points he glosses over. As a Descartes fan and an advocate of the Cartesian epistemic approach to things we confront, he rightfully highlights that a huge problem with propaganda is not just about the ones who give it, rather the ones who receive it. In addition, I feel like I was reading a book from someone who simply studied philosophy and does not philosophize.Now I have seen some reviews on here stating “he should’ve called this an argument for marxism” or something of that nature. People approaching this book with that attitude are probably part of the crowd Stanley is rightfully critiquing. In fact, just to play Stanley’s advocate, must of the negative reviews I have seen on here are not for the right reasons, I believe.I can’t give this book two and a half stars so I will bump it to three. If this book was better organized and more concise and contained more original argument, I would easily give it four stars.
Reviewer: M. Kenny
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Should be read with his book “How Fascism Works”
Review: Excellent examination on Propaganda and how it can be used to advance and destroy democracy. Propaganda is a chief weapon of Fascism and we are seeing it’s rise in countries around the world that wish to get rid of democratic ideas and replace them with fascist ones.
Reviewer: cary t
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: This is a book we all need to read. …
Review: This is a book we all need to read. And think about. ‘Cause we’re all being buffeted about by propaganda we do not have the proper tools to disengage from in order to see clearly how we are being manipulated. Kinda hard to think about. All the more reason to think about it!
Reviewer: Arnaldo Mandel
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Para mim, que não sou do ramo, foi interessante aprender certos conceitos de filosofia política, e conhecer algumas opiniões. A idéia central do autor, de “ideologias falhas” como substrato para o funcionamento de propaganda política, parece sólida e de bom valor explicativo. Só que não precisava ficar martelando cada idéia por páginas e páginas, repetindo definições e cansando este leitor. Nesse sentido, a velha piada sobre filósofos não usarem a lata de lixo encontra guarida neste livro. Que fal faz um bom editor!
Reviewer: Fernwanderer ultraleicht Küche mit Herbert
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Wer sich heute noch nicht mit diesem Thema intersiver beschäftigt, hat seinen Kopf im Sand….eines von sehr vielen Büchern zum Thema und ein Klassiker,
Reviewer: Jerin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
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Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excellent!
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: By autocracy funded and controlled by the rich through with newly devised dog whistles and social media misuse.
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