Humanist propaganda: the poster as a visual medium of communication used by 'new' social movements.

• Author: Dezelan, Tomaz
• Position: POLSCI PAPERS - Report

Introduction

Social movements are important drivers of social change, and they are inseparably linked to the processes of democratisation and the expansion of political rights and liberties (e.g. Tilly 2004; Tilly and Wood 2009). Social movements draw mainly from structural changes in industrial societies, primarily those relating to socialisation, the development of the commercial press and the emergence of new kinds of associations (Tarrow 1994, p. 48). In post-industrialism and the advancement of capitalist society, new types of social movements emerged, including peace, environmental, gay and student movements (Staggenborg 2012, p. 23). These 'new' social movements differed from the 'old' movements--most notably the labour movement--in terms of their structure, constituency and ideology. Although the problems in the capitalist class society were the main reasons for the re-emergence of social movements, new grievances resulted in new values, new forms of action and new constituencies (Klandermans 1986, p. 21).

In Central and Eastern European socialist systems during the 1980s, these 'post-materialist' values (Inglehart 1990; 2007) appeared in submerged networks and constructed new collective identities, new cultural innovations and new symbolic challenges. The new ideas (e.g. peace, environmental, gay, punk, etc.) in socialist countries were often appropriated from the West (Erjavec 2003a, p. 18). However, because of specific conditions and different political circumstances, the ground in which these ideas were cultivated was already fertile. New social movements left their mark in the pursuit of expansive, new collective identities, autonomy, principles of solidarity and the perpetual search for the optimal blend of the spontaneous potential of the masses and organised socially oriented political actions (Pavlovic 1987, pp. 7-9). At the end of the twentieth century, new social movements in socialist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) advocated democratisation and significantly contributed to the final breakdown of authoritarian regimes (Gunder Frank 1990). Concerned with the elite's occupation of political power, new social movements have challenged the monistic political order, which has been demarcated by the decadent ideas of a socialist society and the reluctance to transform substantially (Fink-Hafner 1992, p. 41).

An important part of social movement campaigns (i.e. interactions among movement actors, their targets, the public and other relevant actors) is their visual presence, which is frequently in close relation to the political and cultural symbols, ideas and ideologies that they promote (Sawer 2007). The visually mediated socio-cultural reality (Kurtz 2005) that is produced by social movements is predominantly dispersed through mass media (Koopmans 2004), as well as other means of communication and persuasion (Kurtz 2005; Sawer 2007; Ziemann 2008; Carty 2015; Schwartz 2002; Philipps 2012; Cherry 2016; Eyerman 2002; McCaughan 2012; Everhart 2012). In particular, the poster is an inexpensive means of mobilisation and information dissemination (Kurtz 2005, p. 81), which is under the direct control of the transmitter, and it is not reshaped by a mediator (e.g. mass media). Posters are one of the best visual tools that social movements can use to persuade their targeted public audience (Kladermans 1992, pp. 89-90). This mode of persuasive communication is immensely important for regime-critical movements, especially in non-democratic environments. During the collapse of socialist regimes across Europe, posters represented one of the major challenges to established authority, and they were the predominant tool used to express resistance to the regime (Aulich and Sylvestrova 1999, p. 78).

In the present study, we examine the characteristics of the poster campaigns conducted by new social movements in Slovenia from the early 1980s and the new millenium. (4) The purpose of this study is to identify and explain potential differences between the poster campaigns of social movements in the eras of communist monism (i.e., before 1989) and democratic pluralism (i.e., after 1989). We take into account the socio-political context and the utilization of posters by other relevant socio-political actors. By comparing these actors, we provide new insights into the dynamics of the collective actions of social movements.

Using a historical perspective, the text first focuses on the role of the posters used in social movement campaigns and contextualizes them in the Slovenian cultural setting. Based on a detailed description of the methodology, we then empirically investigate the poster campaigns of social movements in Slovenia by predominantly concentrating on their technological and compositional features. We conclude by discussing the identified modes of the poster campaigns and the main rationales for them.

Posters as a visual tool of collective action

Posters are one of the most dominant mediums of political communication used in many countries around the world (Plasser 2009, pp. 35-6). They are a visual means of communicating political messages to a large audience (Muller 2008, p. 626) and a medium of political communication that can be directly controlled by political actors (Maarek 2011, p. 108). Nevertheless, the actors are restricted by the size of the campaign budget, the attentiveness of the public and regime-related limitations. Hence, wide variations in the ways that posters are disseminated are observed in poster campaigns.

As a low-tech and inexpensive medium, posters represent a very cost-effective tool (similar to social networks such as Twitter, which is however used primarily to inform, rather than to promote political ideas--see Godnov, Redek 2014). The impact of posters stems from their accessibility, predominant display, relative permanence and the dominance of the visual over the verbal (Cheles 2001, p. 124). Described as a 'mass art form' (Lincoln 1976, p. 302), posters consist of verbal and nonverbal (visual) elements. The verbal elements generally encompass slogans, appeals and grievances, which typically inform the public about an actor's position(s) while attempting to persuade and mobilise. In contrast, nonverbal elements mainly transmit information about the personal qualities of an individual, such as his or her emotions, as well as his or her personal relationship with the environment (Schweiger and Adami 1999; Latkin 2006). Verbal elements have the capacity to inform and persuade potential voters, whereas nonverbal elements predominantly target persuasion (Lewis and Masshardt 2002; for more on voters' behaviour in general, please see Pilch & Turska-Kawa 2015). In their examination of images used by the precarity movement, Mattoni and Doerr (2007) found that visual icons were at least as successful as text messages in publicising the discourse of the movement (see also Mattoni and Teune 2014). In their analysis of poster campaigns, Muller (2008, p. 628) identified the predominance of persuasion. Such previous findings showed that the purpose of campaign posters is to inform voters by providing information about an actor or an issue, as well as to mobilise and persuade the public to support the cause (Seidman 2008). In addition to their functions of informing, persuading and mobilising, posters have proved to be a significant influence on the development of democratic values in society, particularly in young democracies (Fourie 2008). Post-socialist countries are an especially interesting case because the use of posters in their democratic periods nurtures values that are diametrically opposed to those that shaped the posters that appeared during the rule of the Communist Party.

Social movements use different means of protest to influence social change (Rucht and Neidhardt 2002, p. 9). Regardless of the regime type, social movements have become important actors in the political process, in which, in addition to political parties and interest groups, they act as agenda setters and co-producers of social reality (Koopmans 2007, p. 694). The interaction between social movements and political authorities can be twofold: direct confrontation or indirect, mediated encounters among contenders in the arena of the mass media public sphere (ibid.). Nevertheless, the activities of social movements are mainly connected to mass mobilisation and different forms of protest (e.g. blockades, occupations and petitions), in which the public is exposed to different forms of communication that is used to persuade them to accept the movements' arguments (Klandermans 1992, p. 89). In addition to interpersonal communication, other important tools of persuasion in such campaigns are posters, which convey substantive and emotional arguments for the action.

In the late 1960s, posters played a very influential role in youth protests in Paris, where protesters thwarted authorities by using handmade posters as a tool of communication and mobilisation (Rickards 1971). In addition to their traditional value as a medium of communication, posters have proven to be vital tools in protest movements because of their ability to be produced and distributed easily (Horvat Pintaric 1979, p. 58). With the rise of new social movements during the 1970s and 1980s in the West, the repressed feelings of civil society across socialist countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were provided a new impetus for rebellion. Indeed, regardless of whether they consisted of the revival of autonomous labour movements or a wide spectrum of dissident- and protest-social movements that demanded the democratisation of society, their common ground was the permanent (manifest or latent) protest against the state and the elite in power (Pavlovic 2004, p. 178). The political changes that followed in the region were predominantly initiated by such forms of rebellion, which largely gravitated to posters as a tool of protest...