Contemporary Politics
Alexander123
Lecture1-ParanoiaNation2022.pptx
Structure of these sessions
Session 1 – The history of conspiracy theories, defining and classifying them
Session 2 – Looking at the theoretical and technical reasons for their growth
Session 3 – Examining the global impact of conspiracy theories in a range of contexts (QAnon, Anti-vaxxers, Birther movement etc)
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
My essay question
Using relevant theories critically explain the rise of conspiracy theories in recent years and their impact on politics and society.
Important
I’m not asking you to explain why people believe in conspiracy theories.
I’m asking you why there has been in an increase in the number of people believing in conspiracy theories (and an increase in the number of theories).
Equally…
I’m not asking you to describe their impact.
I’m asking you to critically discuss their impact.
During the course of
this presentation:
A history of the conspiracy theory
How do you define conspiracy theories
Why are they a growing problem?
How do you categorise them?
The Great Fear of 1789
The French Revolution was in it’s early stages
Wild rumours began to sweep the country that grain shortages were a plot by the nobles to starve the peasants (in some areas it was that foreign troops had invaded and were burning crops)
The peasants responded by burning the house of the rich land owners and aristocracy
It differed from earlier peasant revolts in terms of its scale and the rumours driving it
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
The Great Fear of 1857
The British East India Company controlled India using a mixture of British troops, mercenaries, and native forces
Rumours started that the new gun cartridges (that had to be torn open by teeth) had been deliberately greased with either beef (offensive to Hindus), or pork (offensive to Muslims)
This was supposedly to destroy the religion of both groups and replace them with Christianity
This conspiracy theory was one of the reasons behind the Indian Uprising of 1857 which led to 150,000 deaths
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Covid-19 and 5G
In the early months of the Covid-19 outbreak rumours started to circulate online that the virus was being deliberately spread
The mechanism was the new 5G network of towers
Scientists tried to quell these fears on TV and in the press, but were quickly accused of being part of the conspiracy
In some cases 5G towers were destroyed and workers attacked
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
Coronavirus conspiracies
The virus was created in a Chinese lab and accidentally escaped
The virus was created in a Chinese lab and deliberately released
Billionaires are behind the virus to increase their power and wealth e.g. Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates
Masks make no difference
Covid-19 is less deadly than the flu
The vaccines being developed are going to be used for social control
Covid-19 is being used to drive ‘The Great Reset’
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Moral panics?
Professor Stanley Cohen, author of Moral Panics and Folk Devils (1972) would argue that these are moral panics as well as conspiracy theories
However, they have many of the same characteristics
A focus on the irrational belief that something terrible will happen unless extreme measures are taken
The fear that there is an individual, or group, or piece of technology out to destroy society
It could be argued that conspiracy theories drive moral panics
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
2020 – The perfect storm for conspiracy theories
Due to lockdown the population has been spending a lot more time online (Down the Rabbit hole of YouTube)
People have been desperate for comfort and online conspiracy communities provide this
It’s a particularly polarizing election year in the US
Brexit remains an incredibly polarizing subject in the UK
The rise of bad faith actors worldwide
The economic crisis means people are looking round for someone to blame
A willingness of some actors in power and the media to spread them
The post-truth society
One of the key words/phrases of the last few years has been ‘post-truth’
A multitude of articles and books have been published that the truth no longer matters
Or that there are multiple truths rather than any one truth and all are equally valid
Or that there never was a truth to begin with
Or that the truth has been systematically undermined and destroyed by those in power
In a world without broad agreement of what is true or not, conspiracy theories thrive
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND
What is a conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theories are the idea that someone somewhere is conspiring against us
Conspiracy theories always have malicious intentions
Those behind the conspiracy are the ultimate bad faith actors, not merely devious, but outright evil
The plotters are incredibly competent and exercise complete control
Conspiracy theorists are the true heroes and understand the situation better than the ‘so called experts’, who are either unreliable, or part of the conspiracy themselves
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
How conspiracy theories conquered the world
By the 20th century conspiracy theories were not a new phenomenon, but generally interest in them was deemed to be a niche activity
The popular stereotype was of a friendless loner in his mothers basement wearing a tin foil hat
Conspiracy theories have now become mainstream
While there is some stigma attached to certain theories, many others are now widely believed
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
Proponents of conspiracy theories today
The media (either directly spreading them, or by giving airtime to those who do under the pretext of debunking them)
Some academics
Celebrities
Some politicians
Some business leaders
Eccentric billionaires
The Orange man in the White House
Many of us via social media sharing them
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Academic study
Conspiracy theories have become a legitimate area of academic study
Routledge have put out five books in the last 12 months alone
The growth of the modern conspiracy theory
While previous Presidents had been assassinated (and there has been theories about them at the time), the assassination of JFK arguably kickstarted the modern conspiracy theory mania
The fact that it was shown on global TV at the beginning of the TV age also helped
It also contained many of the classic elements that make a good conspiracy theory
Foreign governments (Russia and Cuba)
The perfect conspiracy theory
The enemy without - Foreign government (Russia and Cuba)
The enemy within – The CIA and military industrial complex
Criminal elements – the Mafia
A young good looking victim killed in front of his wife
The alleged shooter had been a Soviet defector
Early reporting created inconsistencies that later conspiracy theories exploited
Several powerful groups genuinely had much to gain from Kennedy’s death
Unintended consequences
‘Karl Popper famously argued that conspiracy theories overlook the pervasive unintended consequences of political and social action; they assume that all consequences must have been intended by someone’ (
The world has become so complicated that it has become almost impossible to keep track of cause and effect
A stockbroker decides to sell shares in a New York import business, in China a graphic designer loses their job
One event may have caused the other, but there is no way would have known this when they made their decision
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC
Every one is an idiot
Conspiracy theorists often rely on Qui Bono (who benefits)
However, this can sometimes work backwards
They decide who must have benefited, and then do their best to fit the evidence to their conclusion
An alternative is misidentifying who was behind the conspiracy
For instance, 911 did involve a planned conspiracy, but it was by bin Laden rather than George Bush
Measuring benefit is incredibly difficult
Why should we care?
Because the powerful weaponize conspiracy theories against their enemies (the Tsarist secret police invented the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to stir up anti-Jewish hatred)
The spread of conspiracy theories mean we end up ignoring what’s actually going on in society (this in itself is a popular conspiracy theory)
The rise in violent actions linked to conspiracy theories
People voting based on conspiracy theories rather than ideology, or (rational) evidence
These beliefs are no longer held by a few hundred people
It’s a global problem
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Comet Ping Pong
The pizzagate conspiracy theory was that Clinton was running a sex ring from a Washington DC pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong
After watching multiple YouTube videos Edgar M. Welch drove four hours to the restaurant to ‘free the children’. He then fired on it with an assault rifle before being arrested
Later the restaurant was set on fire by another conspiracy theorists
The theory had been spread widely online by figures in the media and politics (they walked in back after these attacks)
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
The implications
One in 10 Americans are engaged with QAnon beliefs, with 4.6 per cent of respondents explicitly identifying as “strong supporters” and 5.4 per cent as “soft supporters”
Among those supporters, 82 per cent believe using violence is justified to defend something they believe in – compared to only 13 per cent of the general public.
The implications
A third of Americans surveyed believe that “elites in Hollywood, government, the media and other powerful positions are secretly engaging in large-scale child trafficking and abuse,” while 19 per cent of respondents believe the Covid-19 crisis was engineered as part of “depopulation" plan orchestrated by the United Nations or a “New World Order” and 15 per cent believe a vaccine will be “used maliciously to infect people with poison”
More than 20 per cent of Donald Trump supporters identify with QAnon
Types of conspiracy theory
There have been several attempts over the years to create a typology of conspiracy theories
These range from dividing them into who is perceived to be behind the conspiracy to, where they originate
Professor Michael Barkunin divides them into systematic and event conspiracy theories
Event conspiracy theories explain specific events e.g. 911, Covid-19
Systematic theories are those where the plan is global domination utilizing a range of methods. Often several different conspiracies are tied together
Justified vs Unjustified
Sunstein and Vermuele correctly point out that some conspiracy theories have turned out to be true e.g. MK-Ultra
As a result they distinguish between conspiracy theories and unjustified conspiracy theories
It’s primarily unjustified ones that we’re interest in
No win scenario
Governments and other accused of being part of a conspiracy theory are trapped in a curious no win scenario
If they ignore the conspiracy theory it will continue to spread with their non-acknowledgement taken as evidence of its existence
If they publicly deny it, this is taken as evidence that there must be something in it if they willing to go to the bother of denying
For instance, when Obama did produce his birth certificate Trump claimed it as a victory, but then immediately started to suggest it might be a fake
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Conclusion
Conspiracy theories are not an entirely new phenomenon, they have been driving events in human history since before the Greek’s first started experimenting with democracy (it could be argued that democracies help conspiracy theories thrive)
However, it’s only in the 20th century they’ve become mainstream
They became a subject of popular discourse, then the subject of academic study
They’ve now become a cultural phenomena and part of our daily lives
They’ve become also impossible to avoid or to avoid being sucked into
