The Anthropology of Propaganda: Threats, Priorities, and Limits

Abstract

This article contends that propaganda is a growing threat that worsens many of today's most pressing human problems, from political violence to climate denial. Jordan Kiper explains why anthropology is essential for understanding propaganda: it works by manipulating culture, and only ethnographic research can show how it affects real people in real places. The author outlines urgent research priorities, including hate speech, war propaganda, digital authoritarianism, and the impact of AI. Kiper also warns of anthropology's limits and the ethical tensions researchers face. Still, he encourages anthropologists to take a leading role in understanding propaganda as part of the discipline's mission to disseminate anthropological knowledge to address human problems.