Propaganda Work Research Articles

Celebrating Third Anniversary of October Revolution in Altai Province in 1920

This article examines the process of organizing celebratory events for the third anniversary of the October Revolution in the Altai Province. The focus is on the preparatory work, including the planning of festive activities, the coordination of themes for propaganda work, and the distribution of red fabric for making flags, among other things. The relevance of the study lies not only in the interest in the formation of the Soviet holiday calendar but also in the everyday life of the population in Siberia under the policy of ‘prodrazverstka’. By drawing on a wide range of sources, the article identifies the peculiarities of celebrating the third anniversary of the October Revolution, taking into account differences between urban and rural areas. It is determined that in cities, celebratory events were mass-oriented and covered all segments of the population, including parades, performances, and concerts. In rural areas, there were often no events due to weak propaganda work. Visiting individual graves and communal burial sites of those who died fighting for Soviet power became an important element of the holiday. The article concludes that celebrating the anniversary of the October Revolution in Siberia was a key aspect of the propaganda policy in favor of the Soviet state.

“The homeland is on the ship:” D’Annunzio's La nave and the construction of nationhood

A fervent nationalist and one of the authors most securely planted at the center of the Italian literary canon, D’Annunzio might not seem the most likely choice when seeking to trouble linguistically and culturally homogenous notions of Italian literary history. And yet, through an analysis of the 1908 play La nave—a work of nationalist propaganda—I argue that D’Annunzio's construction of italianità is the result of a complex negotiation between nationalist politics and a much more hybrid and cosmopolitan cultural ideal. Specifically, I point to the text's fascination with ‘oriental’ aesthetic practices, the general allure of the ‘other,’ its geographically decentered setting, and several structural and stylistic features that I define as ‘textual residues,’ to show that while the affirmation of Italian superiority ultimately takes precedence over representations of hybridity, multiplicity, and foreign influence, D’Annunzio's anxiety over their inclusion is nevertheless the driving force of the play.

Sports Events in the USSR as a Tool for Promoting Soviet Social Values (on the Example of the 1st Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR)

The author made an attempt to consider sports events in the system of propaganda of Soviet values as a research task. The 1st Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in 1956 was used as an example, designed to demonstrate the sporting achievements of the Soviet society and to involve the broad masses of the population in sports. We made a review of legal documents of all-Union and regional significance aimed at preparing for the upcoming competitions. The stages and structure of the regional competitions within the framework of the Spartakiad are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to agitation and propaganda work in the region dedicated to the 1st Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR. The role of holding sports and mass events, star relay races and the “Relay Race of Youth” in the promotion of sports in remote areas of the region is revealed. The importance of the regional councils of voluntary sports societies and the regional committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League in organizing these events was emphasized. The results of the performance of national teams and individual athletes of the Irkutsk region at different stages of the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR are analyzed in detail. The article summarizes already published sources on the topic under study and also it introduces into scientific circulation new data obtained on the basis of documents from the State Archives of the Irkutsk Region. A statistical analysis of the dynamics of the development of physical culture in the Angara region in the course of preparation for the 1st Spartakiad of the peoples of the USSR is given. The author substantiates the hypothesis that, thanks to the preparations for the Spartakiad in the Irkutsk region, it was possible to expand the propaganda of Soviet sports, update the material and technical base, improve the quality of personnel and increase the number of people involved in physical culture. Thus, sport became a significant element in the system of Soviet social values.

Propaganda: More Than Flawed Messaging

ABSTRACTMost of the recent work on propaganda in philosophy has come from a narrowly epistemological standpoint that sees it as flawed messaging that negatively impacts public reasonableness and deliberation. This article posits two problems with this approach: first, it obscures the full range of propaganda's activities; and second, it prevents effective ameliorative measures by offering an overly truncated assessment of the problems to be addressed. Following Ellul and Hyska, I argue that propaganda aims at shaping actions and not just beliefs, and that the propaganda activities that shape action include modifying beliefs but also much more. Examining this larger set of activities results in a shift in how we conceptualize the way that propaganda works. In particular, I add a novel argument that propaganda works by creating and reshaping publics, transforming who they are and their characteristic action. This article concludes that a more complete philosophical account of propaganda cannot just draw on epistemology but must also call on the tools of social ontology and political philosophy to create a more robust critical account.

The Results of the Police Reform: An «Inside View»

The paper presents the results of a study of the most important changes in the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs (Police Service) after the 2011 reform. The success of the implementation of the principles of openness and publicity of police activities, building trust between the police and society, improving the image of the Department of Internal Affairs is characterized, the intensification of information and propaganda work is noted. The opinion of police officers on the prevalence of illegal and illegal behavior among employees is analyzed. Noting the downward trend in the facts of such behavior, among its determinants, the author names more active detection of violations of official discipline and offenses. An important advantage of modern police activity is the introduction and development of electronic document management, improvement of the regulatory framework, tightening control over budget spending. An increase in the level of education of police officers is also recognized as a positive trend, but the active introduction of distance learning significantly reduces its quality. The system of medical and pension provision for employees of internal affairs bodies remains satisfactory. Among the main problems that reduce the effectiveness of the professional activities of police officers are excessive document flow, imperfection of legislation, weak material and technical base, poor interaction of departments and services among themselves, insufficient number of employees and their heavy workload. The latter, according to the employees of the internal affairs bodies, is the most serious factor, which is expressed in the inconsistency of the official load with the established norms, in the performance of official duties during the vacation period, in the unjustified distribution of official duties. The solution of the problems of organizing and carrying out the professional activities of police officers indicated in the paper is necessary for effective crime prevention and increasing the authority of the police in society.

FORMS OF ORGANIZING LEGAL PROPAGANDA AMONG POPULATION PREVENTION INSPECTORS

The article describes the current state and features of the implementation by the inspector of preventive work of legal propaganda among the population. The subjects of legal protection among the population and their mutual cooperation, the stages of implementation by inspectors of the prevention of legal protection among the population were also scientifically analyzed. Evidence-based proposals and recommendations aimed at improving efficiency activities of the inspector for prevention in the implementation of legal propaganda among the population.

Religious Hate Propaganda: Dangerous Accusations and the Meaning of Religious Persecution in Light of the Cognitive Science of Religion

Religious hate propaganda, which is sustained communication by an authority that attempts to guide an audience towards persecuting others based on religion, is a speech crime. Yet, it is one of the least understood and most difficult speech crimes to prosecute. This is due to misunderstandings and epistemic gaps regarding how persecutory language, which would otherwise have little significance for prosocial religious adherents, becomes meaningful for a religious community. Drawing from the cognitive science of religion (CSR), this article develops and explores the hypothesis that for some religious communities, discursive attacks on others become meaningful when they center on dangerous accusations. Dangerous accusations portray the other as capable of mystical harm and, when made by cultural authorities, become socially accepted truths if repeated during rituals of veridiction. This article shows that dangerous accusations are at the heart of religious hate propaganda and exploit cognitive biases for threat perception, coalitional psychology, and costly signaling. Moreover, dangerous accusations can reinforce the social order and maintain social cohesion. Together, an analysis of speech crimes and dangerous accusations shed light on how religious hate propaganda works, how it can offer meaning to religious communities, and how it can justify persecution in certain environments.

Как железнодорожное сообщение во второй половине XIX – начале XX века помогало распространять революционерам антиправительственную литературу (на примере Курской губернии)

Importance. In the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries, an unstable internal political situation was observed in Russia. The activation of the oppositional political forces was facilitated by unresolved topical problems for society (for example, the peasant and workers’ question). The «awakening» of the population was facilitated by agitation and propaganda activities organized by left-wing political parties, such as the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and the Socialist Revolutionaries. At the same time, the spread of anti-government literature across the country was, as a rule, by rail. The study of the experience of agitation and propaganda work (on the example of a typical Russian province) will not only enrich the historical sphere of scientific knowledge, but also assess the effectiveness of the implemented mechanisms for the dissemination of revolutionary literature in the historical conditions. This is the purpose of this study. Materials and methods. In the process of working on the topic, the following methods of scientific cognition were used: analysis, synthesis, generalization, chronological and comparative-historical methods. Results and Discussion. It is determined that oppositional political parties used railway lines as an effective «means» of delivering revolutionary literature to provincial regions. Conclusion. However, such propaganda and agitation activities did not always lead to the desired result, and the local population was wary of the discovered «finds» in the form of revolutionary leaflets, appeals, proclamations, pamphlets, etc.

“A Threat to the Childhood”: Civil War in the Pyrenees in the Coverage of Soviet Periodicals for Children

In 1936–1939, the Spanish Civil War was a hot topic used for military-patriotic upbringing and political socialization of children. This article shows has the events in Spain were portrayed in periodicals for preschoolers and primary schoolchildren, including texts and visualizations. While the official perspective of the Spanish events in the USSR was dictated by the Party, children’s optics was tuned using its own means and methods, customized to the psychology of this age group. The article discloses the goals of exploiting this topic in the Soviet child-targeting discourse, reveals the most common plotlines, pinpoints the specific emotion-inciting tricks. In propaganda work with children, the extreme polarization of good and evil was used, embodied in two political forces — fascists and republicans. The theme was adapted for children through the extensive use of peer images, central among which were child heroes and child martyrs. The image of the Spanish child-hero corresponded to the Soviet concept of a child walking in the forefront of society. At the same time, attention was focused on the difficulties experienced by the children of Spain, who experienced a “threat to childhood”, which fed the ideologeme of “happy Soviet childhood”, the exclusivity of Soviet children. The participation of powerful artistic forces in the information campaign resulted in the construction of a sublimely romantic image of Spain and the Spaniards with an aura of inflexibility and fortitude, corresponding to the ideal of a Soviet person. There was a feeling of connection between the Soviet and Spanish loci of heroism and people of heroic professions, among which pilots and border guards came to the fore. The figures selected to create the pantheon of Civil War heroes and the ways to fit the images of Franco and Stalin into the context are demonstrated.

From Football to Parachuting: Physical Education and Sports at the “Krasny Putilovets” Plant in the 1920s — Early 1930s

This study is devoted to the under researched issue of development of physical education and sports at the grassroots level. The task was to identify the mechanism of recruiting participants to sports teams and societies; to consider the process of introduction to sports at the micro-level of the enterprise; to study the role of physical culture in labor processes. The cornerstone of the Soviet mass society were collectives formed at factories, and therefore one of the largest factories in Petrograd/Leningrad — “Krasnyi Putilovets”, which had not only rich labor and revolutionary history, but also sports history, was chosen as an example. The research source base included archival materials; reviews and results of the survey of the physical education club at the plant; reviews of the activity of the sports club; discussions of the development of physical culture and sports, etc. As far as research methods are concerned, the authors turned to everyday history and its components — the history of sports and the history of leisure, as well as to microhistory. The results of the study demonstrate that it was the factory sport circles that led to professional sports and that during the period under review, effective mechanisms were developed to attract workers of different genders and ages to active physical education and sports. At the same time, the actors involved in the organization and implementation of this work pursued different goals — the unity of the labor collective, the distraction of young people from deviant leisure practices, the proletarization of sports, its use for educational and propaganda work, etc.

ВОЕННО-ПАТРИОТИЧЕСКОЕ ВОСПИТАНИЕ В ВУЗАХ УРАЛА В ГОДЫ ВЕЛИКОЙ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОЙ ВОЙНЫ

The paper analyses forms and methods of military-patriotic education of students of higher educational institutions in the Urals during the Great Patriotic War. It shows that educational system operating during the war period was based on the historical traditions of Russian patriotism, which repeatedly contributed to the unity of society and achievement of victory over the enemy. When analyzing the educational process aimed at raising the level of patriotic consciousness of students, the main emphasis is placed on the characteristics of military, physical, ideological and theoretical training of high school students, as well as on their practical participation in mass political activities that united all the efforts of the people fighting Nazism to achieve the main goal — defeat of the enemy. The paper notes that the strict control of the leading party-state bodies of the regional, city, district and university scale over the process of improving the system of military-patriotic education of students, significantly increased its organizational capabilities, and bringing the base of the ideological theory that prevailed in the country at that time under objective patriotic feelings, made the practical actions of students to protect the Motherland conscious and theoretically justified. This explains an active position of the Ural students in the war years, which determined their positive performance in military and physical training, propaganda work and patriotic movements. It is concluded that the higher educational institutions of the Urals, together with other universities of the USSR, became the most important centres of military-patriotic education, which in every possible way contributed to the military and labour unity of Soviet society, which defeated German Nazism. Social unity is also necessary for modern Russia, therefore, the existing historical experience should be studied and used in practice.

Yaroslav Salat-Petrlik: Czech Communist internationalist and Soviet Party functionary

Based on the documents from Russian archives, the article considers Yaroslav Salat-Petrlik’s participation in the revolutionary events in Russia in 1917–1918, especially in the establishment of Soviet authority in Zadonsk in Voronezh province. Significant attention is paid to the activities of Salat in Moscow as a secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Group and as a chairman of the Central Czechoslovak Bureau of Agitation and Propaganda. The author also analyzes his underground revolutionary activities in 1919–1920 in Czechoslovakia and his work in the Comintern. The author points out the reasons that caused Czechoslovak communist leaders and Soviet diplomats in Prague to criticize Salat’s activities. As a result, he had to stay in the USSR at party work. In 1922–1936 he headed the Soviet party educational institutions in the North Caucasus, the Volga region and Central Asia. In these regions, Salat also led the agitation and propaganda work of the Communist Party. He always followed Stalin’s political line in everything, took an active part in the fight against Trotskyism and later the “Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc”. However, it did not save him from the arrest in 1936.

Praca wychowawczo-propagandowa i kształtowanie postaw ochotniczek Pomocniczej Służby Kobiet (1940–1945)

The Women’s Auxiliary Service was established in 1941 after the conclusion of the Sikorski–Mayski agreement. The first women’s military troops were created in 1941 in the Polish Armed Forces in the Soviet Union. Women served as nurses, doctors, liaison officers and they worked in common-room and military departments. Many female soldiers organized educational activities for soldiers and participated in shaping their attitudes. At the beginning, military authorities did not conduct the propaganda work for women who were serving in the Women’s Auxiliary Service. The Welfare and Education Department in the Main Inspectorate of WAS was established in January 1943. The most important goal of this institution was to organize the propaganda work for female soldiers, who also continued to organize educational activities for soldiers.

SOME MAIN SOLUTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING GRASSROOT DEMOCRACY IN ETHNIC MINORITY REGIONS IN QUANG NAM PROVINCE CURRENTLY

In order for the implementation of democracy at the grassroots level in ethnic minority areas of Quang Nam province to achieve good results, it must be built on a solid foundation of the Party's and the Party's viewpoints, policies and guidelines agencies, departments, unions... The main solutions to effectively implement democracy at the grassroots level in ethnic minority areas of Quang Nam province are based on the proposed system of viewpoints. The combination of strengthening the leadership and direction role of Party committees and authorities, thereby creating increased awareness, sense of responsibility and promoting propaganda work of cognitive subjects; leading to a process of interaction between all agencies, departments, branches, organizations, and unions, ensuring conditions for people to practice democracy at the grassroots level and ultimately monitoring the power of contributions. on creating a better social environment for people living in ethnic minority areas.

Improve Operational Efficiency at Cam Thuy District Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism Center, Thanh Hoa Province

n 2019, the Center for Culture, Information, Sports and Tourism of Cam Thuy district was established by reorganizing public service units under the People's Committees of districts and towns—communes and cities operating in the fields of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television. After nearly five years of operation, the Center has overcome some difficulties due to the merger and exceeded the tasks and goals compared to the plans set out for each year. However, in the current period, the development of the Center in the coming time will still be complex due to the old-fashioned way of thinking; the Center's activities are solitary, and cultural propaganda work needs to be coordinated. Change and attraction service activities have yet to be focused on. Therefore, studying the limitations in the Center's operations and proposing several solutions to improve the Center's operational efficiency in the future is necessary.

Агитационно-пропагандистская работа и борьба с пораженческими настроениями в Ханты-Мансийском национальном округе на начальном этапе Великой Отечественной войны

The study describes main aspects of the agitation and propaganda work of the authorities of the Khanty-Mansiysk National District and analyzes its impact on the socio-political conditions of life and behavior of the population at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War. The source base of the study is the office documents of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, stored in the Historical Archive of the Omsk region and the State Archive of Socio-Political History of Tyumen region. The author comes to the conclusion that in the difficult conditions of the beginning of the war with Nazi Germany, the party leadership of the district showed determination and firmness in carrying out measures of a political and educational nature. The intensity and coherence of the work of the district’s party bodies in organizing rallies, meetings, lectures, talks, speeches and other forms of agitation and mass events contributed to strengthening the spiritual uplift of Ugra residents, neutralizing negative political sentiments, thereby ensuring the stability of the internal political situation in one of the rear areas of the country.

Propaganda, Politics, Philosophy: A Critical Review of Jason Stanley's How Propaganda Works

Review of: Jason Stanley (2015) How Propaganda Works. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 353 pp.

How Propaganda Works in the Digital Era: Soft News as a Gateway

Digital technology can empower citizen journalism as well as state media in authoritarian regimes. China’s propaganda apparatus has undertaken a series of transformations to adapt itself to the changing media environment. This study investigates this adaptive process by drawing on over five million Weibo posts created by 103 newspapers between 2012 and 2019. Results show that through the digital transformation, newspapers are deliberately distancing themselves from their Orwellian past of abstract dogmatism to openly embrace infotainment. A soft-news-centered production model has emerged as the new journalistic paradigm on social media. Not only commercialized outlets but also mouthpiece newspapers produce more soft news than hard news. Regression results further substantiate that soft news is a gateway to propaganda, whose popularity can spill over into propaganda news. For every 100% increase in soft news popularity, propaganda popularity will rise by 38.5% in the following month. News outlets that have garnered attention to soft news can transfer that attention to their subsequent propaganda. These results illuminate how propaganda works in the digital realm, how authoritarian propaganda could be enhanced by infotainment, and why a less political platform could be more susceptible to political intervention.

Relationship between families and kindergartens in Hungary in the 1950s

Partnership working and co-operation between parents and early education and care settings is a widely researched topic worldwide. However, little is known about how the relationship between families and kindergartens developed in the historically significant period of the 1950s in Hungary, which marks the beginnings of socialism and a period of rapid expansion of early childhood education and care. This study aims to explore how the expectations of raising ‘socialist citizens’ was incorporated into educational and policy documents and other written resources relating to kindergarten and family education. Purposive sampling selection identified 80 documents as data sources, which were subjected to qualitative content analysis. Intra-frame coding was done by hand using a combined inductive and deductive approach. Employing a constructivist theoretical lens, the analysis focused on both the manifest and latent content of the selected documents and resulted in seven main themes. The findings confirmed that the ideologically driven policy decisions not only influenced the relationship between families and kindergartens but also legitimised the efforts to build a socialist system of early education through organised collaboration and related propaganda work. This study is significant as it offers a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between kindergartens and families in the ‘50s and with that provides foundations for further analytical work of the socialist pedagogical past.

Information and PR Support of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine: Major Trends and Lessons of the First Stage

The paper analyzes of the state of PR and propaganda work of the Russian side during the first stage (February — May 2022) of the special military operation (SNO) in Ukraine. In particular, the author emphasizes the undoubted combat successes of the Russian troops (“basis”). Nevertheless, he considers that in terms of the superstructure, Russian military and political leadership is underperforming, conceding to both Western and Ukrainian opponents. The specific concerns are about the problems of positioning the SMO in Russian society, image work to form a pool of heroes and cult people, as well as the counter-propaganda and interaction with information volunteers.