Journal article: “Naslijeđe postmodernizma u eri post-istine: nova inačica krize upravljivosti demokracija”
Vedran Jerbić, November 2024
Vedran Jerbić has published a journal article in Anali. The article examines the thesis that postmodern theories contributed to the entry into the era of post-truth. The critique is carried out by placing the discourse of post-truth in a broader and older contextual framework of narratives about the crisis of governability of democracies. The reference point of this contextual expansion is a report written for the Trilateral Commission from 1975 titled “The Crisis of Democracy: On the Manageability of Democracies” (Crozier, Huntington and Watanuki). Similarities in the language and conceptual relations of the two narratives about crisis are highlighted. The post-truth discourse is then rearticulated as a recurring narrative of a general crisis of governability caused by “democracy excess.” It is also sought to be understood as a belated reaction to the transformation of that form of power in modern society attached to the authority of knowledge/truth, which is now claimed to be in crisis. The discourse on entering the post-truth era is finally understood as a kind of nostalgia for a hierarchical, centralized model of knowledge/truth distribution. The full text (in Croatian) is available here: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/465813.
Book chapter: “Haute Baroque Bling: Style, Taste, and Distinction in the Study of Conspiracist Populism”
Clare Birchall, July 2024
Clare Birchall has published a chapter in the book Populism and Conspiracy Theory: Case Studies and Theoretical Perspectives, edited by Michael Butter, Katerina Hatzikidi, Constanze Jeitler, Giacomo Loperfido, and Lili Turza. The chapter focuses on the “ugly style” and “defects of taste” as employed by Richard Hofstadter in his seminal essay on the paranoid style in American politics to explore how aesthetic disposition might operate as an under-examined factor in why, at least in the limited context of British and American liberal milieus, right-wing populist conspiracists might garner more ire and airtime than left-wing counterparts. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003474272.
Book chapter: “Populism and Conspiracism in Croatia and Their Articulations among Citizens from Left to Right”
Nebojša Blanuša, July 2024
Nebojša Blanuša has published a chapter in the book Populism and Conspiracy Theory: Case Studies and Theoretical Perspectives, edited by Michael Butter, Katerina Hatzikidi, Constanze Jeitler, Giacomo Loperfido, and Lili Turza. The chapter shows that both conspiracism and populism are not isolated on the fringes of the Croatian political spectrum, but deeply ingrained across the whole ideological space, and argues that left‑wing and right‑wing populists may be equally prone to conspiracy theorizing but differ significantly in the conspiracy theories that they articulate. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003474272.
Edited volume: Populism and Conspiracy Theory: Case Studies and Theoretical Perspectives
Michael Butter, July 2024
Michael Butter, Katerina Hatzikidi, Constanze Jeitler, Giacomo Loperfido, and Lili Turza have published an edited volume which explores the close connections between populism and conspiracy theory, provides in-depth analyses of specific configurations of populism and conspiracy theory, and includes nuanced considerations of more theoretical issues. The case studies cover both right-wing and left-wing manifestations of populism, while highlighting that populist movements often cut across the traditional left-right divide. Chapters focus on the twenty-first century and the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the impact of history and memory on contemporary discourses. Geographically, the case studies consider the Americas as well as Europe and Northern Africa. Theoretical discussions include the aesthetics and forms of populist conspiracism, or its dependence on new media. The disciplines represented in the volume range from political science and sociology via anthropology and history to linguistics and cultural studies. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003474272.
Journal article: “Bridging the great divide: Conspiracy theory research for the 21st century”
Michael Butter and Peter Knight, January 2024
Michael Butter and Peter Knight’s 2015 research article in Diogenes has now been published online. The article starts from the observation that research on conspiracy theories is currently thriving, but that it is also fragmented. In particular there is an increasing divide between disciplines with culturalist and qualitative approaches, such as history, cultural studies and ethnology, and disciplines with quantitative and empirical approaches, such as psychology and political science. The article argues that this ‘great divide’ has to be bridged for research to arrive at a genuine understanding of conspiracy theories. As a first step in such a bridge-building process, the article engages, from the vantage point of (American) cultural studies, with research done on the other side of the divide, namely in psychology and political science. It summarizes the work done in these fields and evaluates it critically, concentrating on methodology; the assumptions about the dysfunctionality of conspiracy beliefs; the circularity of some arguments; the focus on individual rather than social and collective aspects; the lack of engagement with the definition of the phenomenon; and the neglect of cultural and historical difference. Find more information here: https://doi.org/10.1177/0392192116669289.
Book: Varjatud märgid ja salaühingud: Vandenõuteooriate tähendusmaailm
Mari-Liis Madisson, November 2023
Mari-Liis Madisson, Andreas Ventsel, and Mihhail Lotman have published the first monograph in Estonian focusing on conspiracy theories. Here is a summary: See raamat on esimene eestikeelne vandenõuteooriatele keskenduv monograafia, mille eesmärk on avada konspiratsiooniteooriate kirjut tähendusmaailma ja nende toimimismehhanisme. Seda tehes jõutakse järelduseni, et vandenõuteooriate teke ei ole juhus, vaid peaaegu paratamatus. Lugeja saab teada, millised on kultuurilised ja sotsiopsühholoogilised eeltingimused vandenõuteooriate tekkeks ja millised olid kuulsamad vandenõuteooriad alates Prantsuse revolutsioonist kuni tänapäevani. Raamatus selgitatakse, kuidas on vandenõuteooriatele omast saladuslikkuse atmosfääri ja „nakkavaid“ seoseid kasutatud strateegilises kommunikatsioonis, muu hulgas riikidevahelises infomõjutustegevuses ning turunduses. Samuti näidatakse, kuidas on vandenõuteooriate tähendusloome kohandunud digitaalse meediumi ja sotsiaalmeediasuhtlusega. Arutluskäike illustreerivad näited nii Eestist kui mujalt maailmast. Find more information here: https://www.apollo.ee/varjatud-margid-ja-salauhingud.html.
Book chapter: “Has Conspiracy Theory Run Out of Steam?”
Clare Birchall and Peter Knight, September 2023
Clare Birchall and Peter Knight have published a chapter in the book Theory Conspiracy, edited by Frida Beckman and Jeffrey R. Di Leo. Their chapter reassesses the critique of critique, specifically the relationship between critique and conspiracy theory, in light of recent political, technological, and epistemic developments. It focuses on the way that conspiracy theory comes to serve as a straw man in certain arguments against the hermeneutics of suspicion. Pausing on these metaphorical mobilizations of conspiracy theory, it asks what difference it makes to the discussion about critique if we take on board the manifestation, mediation, and meaning of conspiracy theories in circulation today. Find more information here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003375005-12.
Book chapter: “Conspiracy Theories as Populist Counter-Narratives”
Michael Butter, August 2023
Michael Butter has published a chapter in the book Subversive Semantics in Political and Cultural Discourse, edited by Gesa Mackenthun and Jörn Dosch. The chapter addresses the transformation of conspiracy theories from official explanations of events to counter-narratives during the 1950s and 1960s, examines the relationship between populism and conspiracy theory, introduces the concept of science-related populism, and applies the idea of science-related populism to the conspiracist documentaries Plandemic: The Hidden Agenda Behind Covid-19 and Plandemic: Indoctornation to demonstrate which strategies of resemanticization they employ to cast doubt on the official narrative of the pandemic and how their arguments are tied to a populist agenda. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839461778-002.
Book chapter: “Die psychologische Forschung aus Sicht der Kulturgeschichte”
Michael Butter, June 2023
Michael Butter has published a chapter in the book Die Psychologie der Verschwörungstheorien: Von dunklen Mächten sonderbar belogen, edited by Roland Imhoff. The chapter criticizes the imprecision and one-sidedness of psychological concepts from the perspective of cultural history. Based on a presentation of cultural-historical approaches to the topic, it makes clear the extent to which both psychological definitions and the field’s methods fall short of what could be learned from other disciplines, and explains the extent to which some psychological findings are not transferable beyond a specific spatial and temporal context. Find more information here: https://www.hogrefe.com/de/shop/die-psychologie-der-verschwoerungstheorien-97657.html.
Book chapter: “A Perfect Storm: Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in the United States”
Clare Birchall and Peter Knight, February 2023
Clare Birchall and Peter Knight have published a chapter in the book Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, edited by Knight and Michael Butter. The chapter focuses on the specific conditions – political, medical, and technological – that gave rise to the outpouring of conspiracist talk in the United States during the pandemic. It begins by discussing the political and media contexts which created the conditions for a “perfect storm” of conspiracism and other forms of mis- and disinformation. It then summarizes the different conspiracy narratives that emerged, highlighting the distinctive features that characterized the creation, circulation, and consumption of conspiracy theories in the United States during the pandemic. In particular, it focuses on the way that the conspiracy theories enabled the formation of new political allegiances, creating “coalitions of distrust.” Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003330769.
Book chapter: “Covid Conspiracy Theories in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland”
Michael Butter, February 2023
Michael Butter has published a chapter in the book Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, edited by him and Peter Knight. The chapter traces the development of Covid conspiracy theories, the protests they sparked, and the public discussion about them in the German-speaking countries, with a focus on Germany. It covers the most popular conspiracy theories in the region, which all claim that the pandemic is a hoax that has been staged by dark forces to achieve sinister goals, considers the protests against the Covid restrictions, their development, and the role that conspiracy theories have played in them, arguing that since the summer of 2020, conspiracy theories have been the kit that has held together diverse groups of protestors with different political beliefs and from various milieus while at the same time emphasizing that there is at the moment no genuine threat to democracy. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003330769.
Edited volume: Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective
Michael Butter and Peter Knight, February 2023
Michael Butter and Peter Knight have published an edited volume which examines how conspiracy theories and related forms of misinformation and disinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic have circulated widely around the world. Their book provides a unique global perspective on the emergence and development of conspiracy theories through a series of case studies conducted by recognized experts on area studies and conspiracy theories. This volume makes an important contribution to the rapidly expanding field of academic conspiracy theory studies as well as being of interest to those working in the media, regulatory agencies, and civil society organizations, who seek to better understand the problem of how and why conspiracy theories spread. Open Access is available here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003330769.