Stories are weapons : psychological warfare and the American mind /
Annalee Newitz.
- First edition.
- xxv, 246 pages ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-227) and index.
Preface: The brain fog of war -- Part I: Psyops. The mind bomb -- A fake frontier -- Advertisements for disenfranchisement -- Part II: Culture wars. Bad brains -- School rules -- Dirty comics -- Part III: Disarmament. History is a gift -- Deprogramming for democracy -- Public spheres of the future.
"Annalee Newitz traces the way disinformation, propaganda, and violent threats--the essential tool kit for psychological warfare--have evolved from military weapons used against foreign adversaries into tools used in domestic culture wars. Newitz delves into America's deep-rooted history with psychological operations, beginning with Benjamin Franklin's Revolutionary War-era fake newspaper and reaching its apotheosis with disinformation during twenty-first-century elections. The nation's secret weapon has long been coercive storytelling, fashioned by operatives who drew on their experiences in the ad industry and as science-fiction writers. Now, through a weapons-transfer program long unacknowledged, it has found its way into the hands of culture warriors, in conflicts from school-board fights over LGBTQ+ students to campaigns against feminist viewpoints. Stories Are Weapons delivers a powerful counter-narrative, as Newitz highlights the process of psychological disarmament, speaking with Indigenous archivists preserving their histories in new ways, activist storytellers, and technology experts transforming social media"--
9780393881516 (hardcover) 0393881512 (hardcover)
2023553884
Disinformation--United States. Desinformación --Estados Unidos Comunicación en política --Estados Unidos Misinformation--United States. Propaganda--United States. International relations. Propaganda--Estados Unidos Relaciones internacionales Relations internationales. Désinformation. Mésinformation. Propagande. Propagande--États-Unis. international relations.