Post-truth
Post-truth is a term that refers to the 21st century widespread documentation of and concern about disputes over public truth claims. The term's academic development refers to the theories and research that explain the historically specific causes and the effects of the phenomenon.[1][2][3][4][5] In the United States, Donald Trump has been characterized as engaged in a "war on truth."[6]
While the term was used in phrases like "post-truth politics" academically and publicly before 2016,[7] Oxford Dictionaries popularly defined it as "relating to and denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief."[8][9][1] In 2016, the term was named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries after the term's proliferation in the election of president Trump in the United States and the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom. Oxford Dictionaries further notes that post-truth was often used as an adjective to signal a distinctive kind of politics.[10]
Some scholars argue that post-truth has similarities with past moral, epistemic, and political debates about relativism, postmodernity, and dishonesty in politics.[11] Others insist that post-truth is specifically concerned with 21st century communication technologies and cultural practices.[1]