Preface 1. Introduction 2. From Fact, to Post-Truth, to Fiction 3. From Marketing to Maskirovka 4. Pulling Back the Curtain 5. The Populist Playbook 6. Strengthening the Democratic Voice 7. Interview Series
Biography
Elesa Zehndorfer, PhD, is a multi-award-winning writer and author of Leadership: Performance Beyond Expectations (Routledge, 2022), political thriller Upload (Blackheath Publishing, 2022), Evolution, Politics and Charisma: Why Do Populists Win (Routledge, 2019), Emotional and Irrational Investing: Causes and Solutions (Routledge, 2017), Charismatic Leadership: The Role of Charisma in the Global Financial Crisis (Routledge, 2016) and Leadership: A Critical Introduction (Routledge, 2014). Zehndorfer is also a founding partner of consulting firm Lakeside Partners GmbH, eMBA lecturer, member of the board of advisors to The Paddy Ashdown Policy Research Forum and manager of the Psychology today blog ‘Political Animals and Animal Spirits’.
'In recent years, post-truth politics has played a major role in escalating populism to levels not seen since the late 1930s. Zehndorfer's Post-Truth Politics: A Brave New World? offers a timely, crucial and complex explanatory analysis on this rapidly growing threat. It combines, for the first time, a big picture analysis of the disinformation industry, the role of populism, generative AI and information warfare in microtargeting and manipulating our realities.
By adopting a systems thinking approach, this book provides a much-needed deep, multidisciplinary analysis on the intersection of fields as diverse as biology, evolution, neuromarketing, the world of fiction and Soviet maskirovka. A must read for any supporter of democracy who wishes to fight back against this most powerful of modern threats.'
Christopher Gleadle, CEO of The Paddy Ashdown Forum
