Summary of Edward Bernays’s Propaganda

People talk about “propaganda” all the time. Although the word seems to have negative connotations, whether it is good or bad depends entirely on the cause behind it and the correctness of the information it carries.

In Propaganda (1928), Edward Bernays explores the structure of systems that control the public mind and public opinion, and examines how propaganda affects all political and social practices. He explains how people are controlled by hidden governments that try to achieve public acceptance of certain concepts. Bernays also attempts to establish the role of intelligent propaganda in society.