Sociocultural Mechanisms of Propaganda and Conflict: A Text and Network Analysis

Daniel Karell, Assistant Professor, New York University, Abu Dhabi

How does propaganda shape the elite relationships underlying political contention? I develop a relational understanding of how social ties, propaganda, and conflict are interwoven. I examine how elites’ associations with propagandistic themes affect their interpersonal relationships, and how these relationships engender associations to the themes. I first introduce a novel analytical approach that synthesizes computational textual analysis and stochastic actor-oriented models of longitudinal networks. I then use this approach to analyze a two-level socio-semantic graph representing both the propaganda domain and the social relationships of political and militia leaders operating in one Afghan province, Balkh, between 1979-2001. Results indicate that elites’ interpersonal alliances rely, in part, on their connections to propaganda topics and relative power. Alliances, in turn, foster elites’ connections to propaganda topics. I conclude by discussing how scholarship on propaganda can build on insights from socio-semantic network research.

Online only: https://washington.zoom.us/j/109287687