Introduction to Propaganda and International Criminal Law: From Cognition to Criminality

Dojcinovic, Predrag

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3500019

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The phenomenon of dehumanization, the failure to spontaneously attribute a mind to another individual, received an increasing amount of attention from social psychologists and social neuroscientists over the past two decades (Harris, 2017). Though theorists suggest that it is associated with interpersonal and intergroup violence and acts as a precursor to violent extremism (Bandura et al., 1996; Dojčinović, 2012, 2020; Oberschall, 2006), recent research has suggested that individuals may readily engage a dehumanized perception even in less extreme, everyday situations (Bruneau et al., 2020; Harris et al., 2014; Kersbergen & Robinson, 2019). Here, we develop an individual difference measure of dehumanization propensity to capture such everyday occurrences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The humanity inventory: Developing and validating an individual difference measure of dehumanization propensity

Lantos

Harris

2021

J Theo Social Psycho

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Dehumanization is often explored in the context of inhumane acts of intergroup and interpersonal violence, and is considered a precursor to extreme atrocities. However, research suggests that we may all engage dehumanized perceptions, at least occasionally, if the social context or goals encourage dehumanization. This implies an individual difference nature of dehumanization propensity. Across four online studies (cross‐sectional Studies 1, 3, 4, and longitudinal Study 2), we develop and validate the Humanity Inventory (HumIn), a self‐report measure of individual differences in the propensity to engage dehumanization. Study 1 (N = 86) entailed item selection. Study 2 (N = 235) examined the validity of the scale and investigated its test–retest reliability. Study 3 (N = 259) compared the HumIn with pre‐existing scales measuring related constructs. Study 4 (N = 98) examined the scale's performance in a situational example of dehumanization. Across all studies, the HumIn performs admirably, showing excellent reliability and validity. This novel instrument and broader conceptualization of dehumanization propensity should allow researchers to tackle questions related to dehumanization from a novel perspective, and will aid future research by providing a tool for assessment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The humanity inventory: Developing and validating an individual difference measure of dehumanization propensity

Lantos

Harris

2021

J Theo Social Psycho

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“…Since the Nuremberg Trials (1945)(1946), over two dozen propagandists have been convicted in international criminal courts for speech crimes. These crimes include persecutory hate speech, instigating crimes against humanity, disseminating propaganda as part of a joint criminal enterprise, and directly and publicly inciting genocide (Dojčinović, 2012(Dojčinović, , 2019. In each case, prosecutors argued that the speech acts of a defendant played a critical role in causing violence against an outgroup (Wilson, 2016(Wilson, , 2017.…”

Section: Speech Crimes Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine whether dehumanization deserves its primacy in legal and social science theories of propaganda, it is necessary to evaluate critically findings that may falsify theoretical predictions that inform current speech crime laws (see Dojčinović, 2012Dojčinović, , 2019 and the burgeoning study of dangerous speech (Leader Maynard & Benesch, 2013). Two means of doing so, which are especially important for the current replication crisis, are replication and exploratory research using diverse methodologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dangerous Speech: A Cross-Cultural Study of Dehumanization and Revenge

et al. 2023

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Dehumanization is routinely invoked in social science and law as the primary factor in explaining how propaganda encourages support for, or participation in, violence against targeted outgroups. Yet the primacy of dehumanization is increasingly challenged by the apparent influence of revenge on collective violence. This study examines critically how various propaganda influence audiences. Although previous research stresses the dangers of dehumanizing propaganda, a recently published study found that only revenge propaganda significantly lowered outgroup empathy. Given the importance of these findings for law and the behavioral sciences, this research augments that recent study with two additional samples that were culturally distinct from the prior findings, showing again that only revenge propaganda was significant. To explore this effect further, we also conducted a facial electromyography (fEMG) among a small set of participants, finding that revenge triggered significantly stronger negative emotions against outgroups than dehumanization.

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“…How exactly does propaganda regulate social behavior? Scholars have debated this question for over a century (see Jowett, O'Donnell, 2018), yet it has become especially important over the last ten years for contemporary international criminal law, where its practical implication is how to prevent totalists from instigating or inciting violent mass crimes (for a review, see Dojčinović, 2020). The central issue in these cases is a theoretical one: what is it about totalist propaganda that allows its leaders to manipulate audiences?…”

Section: Propagandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Rituals, Propaganda, and Social Regulation: Totalism as a Quasi-Religious System

Kiper¹,

Sosis²

2022

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Recent scholarship on mass mobilization and totalism has approached propaganda as a solution to political cooperation, whereby inflammatory speeches, mis-or dis-information, and rumors function not to persuade audiences but rather to coordinate coalitions. Propaganda, it has been argued, aligns the attention of individuals already disposed to conflict. However, propaganda does not operate in a vacuum. Here we argue that movements and regimes that contend for total political power do so by employing a combination of propaganda and ritual. Rituals function to sanctify, connect individuals, and signal commitments. Further, rituals bind individuals into emerging social orders that enable the very communication of propaganda as a means of coordinating coalitions and instantiating methods for coercing behaviors. By examining historical case studies of totalism, we provide an exploration of ritual in totalist regimes and thereby argue that totalism is a quasi-religious system that employs elements of religion in an attempt to regulate social behavior. In describing totalism as a quasi-religious system, we outline five phases in the life course of totalist movements: preformation, cadre formation, coalitional building, collective power, and breakdown. Totalism ultimately results in considerable negative effects on the population, such as loss of health, material resources, and social trust, and closes important channels for socioecological feedback, which are essential for the proper functioning of any system. Accordingly, unlike most religious systems, totalism over-sanctifies power, overregulates meanings, and fails to achieve cooperation and coordination beyond cadres or coalitions of enthusiasts. Consequently, totalist movements are relatively short-lived compared to successful religions.

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Introduction to Propaganda and International Criminal Law: From Cognition to Criminality

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

The humanity inventory: Developing and validating an individual difference measure of dehumanization propensity

The humanity inventory: Developing and validating an individual difference measure of dehumanization propensity

Dangerous Speech: A Cross-Cultural Study of Dehumanization and Revenge

Rituals, Propaganda, and Social Regulation: Totalism as a Quasi-Religious System

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