agitprop meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

agitprop

noun

UK /ˈædʒɪtpɹɒp/ · US /ˈæd͡ʒətˌpɹɑp/

Etymology The noun is borrowed from Russian агитпро́п (agitpróp, “agitprop”), Агитпро́п (Agitpróp, “Agitprop (Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Soviet Union)”), short for отде́л агитации и пропаганды (otdél agitacii i propagandy, “Department for Agitation and Propaganda”); analysable as a blend of agitation + propaganda. The verb is derived from the noun.

Government, Politics Also Political propaganda disseminated through art, drama, literature, etc., especially communist propaganda; (specifically, communism, historical) such propaganda formerly disseminated by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Russian Twitter and Facebook bots trolled both the left and the right with agitprop — in what appears to have been a general effort to deepen divisions and sow political chaos in America, not to favor one party or candidate over the other.2017 November 19, Paul Sperry, “Here are some of the biggest myths of the Russian-collusion story”, in New York Post, New York, N.Y.: News Corp, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 Mar 2024:
The letter was pure puffery, probably written by some clerk in North Korea's agitprop bureau, but [Donald] Trump loved it.2020 June 23, John Bolton, “The Singapore Sling”, in The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 96:

1 more example

Like most pieces of agitprop, the Lucas and Sargent paper vastly overstated the deficiencies of the old order.2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 2:

Government, Politics An instance of such propaganda.

Government, Politics An organization or person engaged in disseminating such propaganda.

Derived terms: agitpop, agitslop

agitprop

verb

Government, Politics Ambitransitive To disseminate (something as) political propaganda, especially communist propaganda, through art, drama, literature, etc.

Anyone who has seen a class struggler at work, agitpropping around Union Square, or the back streets of the Loop, realizes that, by the very nature of things, he or she is so possessed of that particular barricading dream as to lose touch with all reality, [...]1929, Harry W[ellington] Laidler, Norman Thomas, editors, The Socialism of Our Times: A Symposium (Prelude to Depression), New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, published 1976, →ISBN, page 241:
With respect to a poet's facility in logomachy, boredom in the area of power politics theorisation, the seriousness or gaiety with which he agitprops his ego, the degree of his attitude toward the superior poet, or the rebelliousness or conformity of his disciples?1957, Trace, London: Villiers Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:

4 more examples

This is to suggest that the university will leave behind its more limited work and bourgeois integrity in order to undertake the task of brain-trusting and agitpropping for the revolution.1971, Stephen D[enis] Kertesz, editor, The Task of Universities in a Changing World (International Studies of the Committee on International Relations, University of Notre Dame), Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, →ISBN, page 89:
Envoys and missionaries agitpropped in the four corners of the Empire, [...]1987, Fatma Mansur, Phoenix in Her Blood: A Historical Entertainment, Beverley, North Humberside: Eothen Press, →ISBN, page 157:
More an insecure platform for Mr. [Mbongeni] Ngema's didacticism than a play with a life of its own, "Township Fever" is agit-propped with polemical sloganeering.1990 December 20, Mel Gussow, “Review/Theater; apartheid re-echoes in a musical rendering of a strike’s bitterness”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 May 2015, section C, page 11, column 1:
The double agent was Grant Bristow, who agit-propped for—not against—the right-wing Heritage Front and is now hiding in a safe house.1993, Instauration, Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Howard Allen Enterprises, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 31, column 1:

Derived terms: agitpropper, agitpropping