Communication, politics, and power
Reconsidering Harold Lasswell’s work
Abstract
Harold Lasswell has been recognized for his role in the emergence, development, and consolidation of many fields. This includes communications, where his work has typically been seen as a classic hypodermic needle or magic bullet theory, conceiving mass communications as linear, unidirectional, and having an overpowering effect over its audience. In the Spanish-speaking world, his work has scarcely been translated and, therefore, has received limited exposure. So, in the article that follows, we will present the central tenets of his thinking on communications, which are inadequately known; and then consider them in greater depth, plumbing the internal complexity of his ideas and looking at how they fit into a broader vision of the society of his time, as they draw the relationship between communications, politics, and power. We will first offer a biographical overview of his work and discuss how it has been classified in the history of communications studies. Then we will carry out an in-depth analysis of his ideas, focusing on three main topics: propaganda, the political analysis of power’s symbolic dimension, and the general theory of communications.
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