This special issue addresses propaganda as a contemporary social problem requiring updated sociological research. While propaganda shaped public opinion during the imperial era through the Cold War, modern contexts present new challenges: AI-generated content blurs reality, traditional and digital media proliferate messaging, and state and non-state actors compete to control information. The issue seeks research examining how propaganda operates today, the technologies and techniques it employs, and the power structures it reinforces or challenges.
The special issue welcomes empirical, historical, and theoretical contributions from all sociological subfields and methodologies examining propaganda globally. Research should explore the actors behind propaganda, those targeted by it, resistance efforts, and how propaganda intersects with broader social phenomena like authoritarianism, censorship, and polarization. The aim is to establish social scientific research directions on propaganda for the coming decades.