Content
Academic takes aim at propaganda war
The “war on terror” and the “jihad against crusaders” are firmly in the sights of University of the Sunshine Coast academic Dr Lynette Finch in her new book: Dark Angel, Propaganda and Modern Warfare.
Dr Finch, a Senior Lecturer in Australian and Cultural Studies at USC, takes aim at the fact that warfare has become more about propaganda than about battlefields.
In her book, Dr Finch traces the origins and development of propaganda and media manipulation from the 1800s to today’s “spin” and public relations culture.
She explains why governments in every part of the world, in the midst of major military conflicts, have deemed it necessary to create a “suitable climate” for sacrifice among their people.
And she examines how the growth of internationalism and technology-driven warfare has changed the ways in which participants seek a propaganda advantage.
“The ‘war against terror’ or the ‘jihad against crusaders’ is a struggle over symbolic resonance,” she said.
“Civilian causalities are simply a symbol that a blow has been struck: the more deaths, the stronger is the symbol.
“This is not a war that can be won or lost . . . in fact, it is hardly a war at all”.