1st Edition
The International Politics of Logos Colours, Symbols, Cues, and Identities
The International Politics of Logos provides the first systematic analysis of logos and the role they play in international politics.
Whilst there is growing scholarly interest in visual politics, logos have largely remained hidden in plain sight despite being the most important symbol of a variety of organizations. Visual artefacts, such as logos, play an increasingly central role in politics. Candidates running for office carefully choose the images they share on social media, political parties devise effective brands, and NGOs use visual artefacts for advocacy and advertisement. Visual artefacts are also vital for violent non-state actors, ranging from private military and security companies (PMSCs) to terrorists. This book provides a wealth of data on the logos chosen by a variety of organizations, examining how they vary between actors, across types of organizations, and over time. It offers methodological innovations to the study of logos and visual politics, highlighting the potential of combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to study the colours, symbols, and types of logos and other visual artefacts. The book examines the role of colours as cues and the causal connection between chromatic choices and ideology, the influence of socialization and norm diffusion dynamics in the choice to showcase (or scrap) specific symbols, and the relationship between branding decisions and the structure and strategies of specific organizations.
This book will appeal to students and scholars of visual politics and visual communication, as well as those researching political parties, PMSCs, and terrorist groups. It will also be of interest to political, security, and marketing professionals.
Logos between the battlefield and the marketplace: some definitions and a short history
The politics of logos: our main argument
Book structure
2. Flags, Symbols, and Colours: Visual Political Studies Reviewed
Visual political science: a brief review
International Relations’ visual turn
Logos in semiotics and marketing studies
Conclusions
3. Uncharted Territory: Theories and Methods for Visual Political Analysis
Colours and symbols
Political parties
Private military and security companies
Terrorist groups
Studying logos: our methodology
4. Colours, Symbols, Ideologies: The Logos of Political Parties
Colours and symbols in political party logos
Operationalizing visual Europeanization
Political parties: data and method
Political parties: results
Political parties: conclusions
Political parties: appendix
5. Building Legitimacy: Private Military and Security Companies’ Logos
Logos as discourse: marketing security as a commodity
Logos and the private security market
PMSCs’ logo semiotics: a Peircean approach
A visual history of PMSCs’ logos: the inception of the market
Market expansion and the invasion of Iraq
Market consolidation after the Blackwater affair
Russian PMSCs: a new combat-oriented market
What’s in a logo? An analysis
Private military and security companies: conclusions
6. Violent Signs: Terrorist Groups’ Logos
Interpretive and explanatory approaches in terrorism studies
Logos as behavioural cues: theoretical expectations
Terrorist groups: data and method
Terrorist groups: results and discussion
Terrorist rebranding: Aum Shinrikyo
Terrorist groups: conclusions
Terrorist groups: appendix
7. Conclusions
Implications
Political logos: a new research agenda
Biography
Matteo C.M. Casiraghi is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Previously, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow at the University of Warwick, UK, and the University of Denver, USA. He has published articles in the Journal of Peace Research, the European Journal of Political Research, and West European Politics, amongst others.
Eugenio Cusumano is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Messina, Italy, and Assistant Professor (on leave) at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. He was previously a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow at the University of Venice, Italy, and the University of Queensland, Australia, and a Fulbright Scholar at the Korbel School of International Studies, Denver, USA. He has published over 30 journal articles and two monographs on non-state actors' role in international security and has collaborated with the International Organization of Migration, the NATO Centre of Excellence on Civil-Military Cooperation, and the EU Centre of Excellence on Hybrid Threats.
