The aim of my research is to address the subjects of propaganda and fake news, highlighting the possible connections between them. Starting from the ideas presented by Jason Stanley in his book How Propaganda Works, I examine whether fake news can be meant as an instrument of propaganda, and thus as a cause of epistemic oppression. In the first chapter, after a detailed survey of the current literature on the topic made through the lens of the division into four properties (sociological, format, intentional and epistemic) proposed by Piazza and Croce, a working definition of fake news that suits with the project is given. Secondly, Stanley’s work on propaganda is presented. Here I analyse his double definition of propaganda, as well as the way in which he describes how it is developed and spread in contemporary liberal democracies by exploiting instruments of epistemology and philosophy of language. The third chapter is dedicated to the study of Dotson’s concept of “epistemic oppression”, as ultimate effect of propaganda on the subordinated groups. This analysis is made through a comparison with Fricker’s “epistemic injustice”, another fundamental notion in the tradition of feminist social epistemology. The last chapter is dedicated to merge the considerations made above in an argumentative apparatus that allows to draw a parallel between fake news and propaganda. Given the broad use that has recently been made of fake news (and of the term “fake news” itself) in the political discourse, and in view of its features, it appears straightforward to consider fake news as a threat for the political arena, in the same way as propaganda. Being both communicative processes, then, the natural step to take is that of understanding whether fake news is a good candidate for being ascribed as an instrument of propaganda in the way in which Stanley describes it. In conclusion, some possible future lines of research and open problems are listed, and a couple of hypothetical solutions to the threat of fake news that can be found in the literature are briefly sketched.
Lo scopo della mia ricerca è affrontare i temi della propaganda e delle fake news, evidenziandone le possibili connessioni. A partire dalle idee presentate da Jason Stanley nel libro How Propaganda Works, esamino se sia possibile considerare le fake news come strumento di propaganda, e perciò come causa di oppressione epistemica. Nel primo capitolo, dopo una dettagliata panoramica della letteratura sul tema inquadrata in uno schema dato dalla divisione in quattro proprietà (sociologica, di formato, intenzionale ed epistemica) proposta da Piazza e Croce, si dà una definizione di fake news adatta al progetto. Dopodiché, viene presentato il lavoro di Stanley e si analizzano sia la sua doppia definizione di propaganda, sia il modo in cui egli descrive attraverso strumenti di epistemologia e filosofia del linguaggio come la propaganda si sviluppa e diffonde nelle contemporanee democrazie liberali. Il terzo capitolo, poi, è dedicato allo studio del concetto di “oppressione epistemica” di Kristie Dotson, in quanto effetto ultimo della propaganda sulle classi subordinate. Questa analisi avviene attraverso un paragone con la nozione di “ingiustizia epistemica” di Miranda Fricker, anch’essa fondamentale nella tradizione dell’epistemologia sociale femminista. Nell’ultimo capitolo si raccolgono tutte le considerazioni fatte in precedenza in un apparato argomentativo che consenta di stabilire un paragone tra fake news e propaganda. Dato l’ampio uso fatto di recente delle fake news (e dello stesso termine “fake news”) nel discorso politico, e alla luce delle loro caratteristiche, appare immediato considerare le fake news una minaccia per l’arena politica, al pari della propaganda. Essendo, poi, entrambi processi comunicativi, il naturale passo successivo è provare a capire se effettivamente le fake news siano buoni candidati per essere considerate forme di propaganda nel modo in cui questa è intesa da Stanley. In conclusione, si elencano possibili linee di ricerca future e problemi ancora aperti, e si delineano brevemente alcune ipotetiche soluzioni alla minaccia delle fake news presenti nella letteratura.
Communication and Oppression: Fake News as an Instrument of Propaganda
VERSARI, DAVIDE
2020/2021
Abstract
The aim of my research is to address the subjects of propaganda and fake news, highlighting the possible connections between them. Starting from the ideas presented by Jason Stanley in his book How Propaganda Works, I examine whether fake news can be meant as an instrument of propaganda, and thus as a cause of epistemic oppression. In the first chapter, after a detailed survey of the current literature on the topic made through the lens of the division into four properties (sociological, format, intentional and epistemic) proposed by Piazza and Croce, a working definition of fake news that suits with the project is given. Secondly, Stanley’s work on propaganda is presented. Here I analyse his double definition of propaganda, as well as the way in which he describes how it is developed and spread in contemporary liberal democracies by exploiting instruments of epistemology and philosophy of language. The third chapter is dedicated to the study of Dotson’s concept of “epistemic oppression”, as ultimate effect of propaganda on the subordinated groups. This analysis is made through a comparison with Fricker’s “epistemic injustice”, another fundamental notion in the tradition of feminist social epistemology. The last chapter is dedicated to merge the considerations made above in an argumentative apparatus that allows to draw a parallel between fake news and propaganda. Given the broad use that has recently been made of fake news (and of the term “fake news” itself) in the political discourse, and in view of its features, it appears straightforward to consider fake news as a threat for the political arena, in the same way as propaganda. Being both communicative processes, then, the natural step to take is that of understanding whether fake news is a good candidate for being ascribed as an instrument of propaganda in the way in which Stanley describes it. In conclusion, some possible future lines of research and open problems are listed, and a couple of hypothetical solutions to the threat of fake news that can be found in the literature are briefly sketched.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1725