The Nature of Conspiracy Theories
eBook - ePub

The Nature of Conspiracy Theories

Michael Butter, Sharon Howe

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Nature of Conspiracy Theories

Michael Butter, Sharon Howe

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

Conspiracy theories seem to be proliferating today. Long relegated to a niche existence, conspiracy theories are now pervasive, and older conspiracy theories have been joined by a constant stream of new ones – that the USA carried out the 9/11 attacks itself, that the Ukrainian crisis was orchestrated by NATO, that we are being secretly controlled by a New World Order that keep us docile via chemtrails and vaccinations. Not to mention the moon landing that never happened. But what are conspiracy theories and why do people believe them? Have they always existed or are they something new, a feature of our modern world? In this book Michael Butter provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the nature and development of conspiracy theories. Contrary to popular belief, he shows that conspiracy theories are less popular and influential today than they were in the past. Up to the 1950s, the Western world regarded conspiracy theories as a legitimate form of knowledge and it was therefore normal to believe in them. It was only after the Second World War that this knowledge was delegitimized, causing conspiracy theories to be banished from public discourse and relegated to subcultures. The recent renaissance of conspiracy theories is linked to internet which gives them wider exposure and contributes to the fragmentation of the public sphere. Conspiracy theories are still stigmatized today in many sections of mainstream culture but are being accepted once again as legitimate knowledge in others. It is the clash between these domains and their different conceptions of truth that is fuelling the current debate over conspiracy theories.

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Information

Publisher
Polity
Year
2020
ISBN
9781509540839
Edition
1
Topic
Politics & International Relations
Subtopic
Politics
Index
Politics & International Relations

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Title page
  4. Copyright page
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. Introduction, or: What’s the plan?
  7. 1 ‘Everything is planned’, or: What is a conspiracy theory?
  8. 2 ‘Nothing is as it seems’, or: How do conspiracy theorists argue?
  9. 3 ‘Everything is connected’, or: Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?
  10. 4 The story so far, or: How have conspiracy theories evolved historically?
  11. 5 Current trends, or: How is the internet changing conspiracy theories?
  12. Conclusion: When are conspiracy theories dangerous and what can we do about them?
  13. Index
  14. End User License Agreement
Citation styles for The Nature of Conspiracy Theories

APA 6 Citation

Butter, M. (2020). The Nature of Conspiracy Theories (1st ed.). Wiley. Retrieved from https://www.perlego.com/book/1978804/the-nature-of-conspiracy-theories-pdf (Original work published 2020)

Chicago Citation

Butter, Michael. (2020) 2020. The Nature of Conspiracy Theories. 1st ed. Wiley. https://www.perlego.com/book/1978804/the-nature-of-conspiracy-theories-pdf.

Harvard Citation

Butter, M. (2020) The Nature of Conspiracy Theories. 1st edn. Wiley. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1978804/the-nature-of-conspiracy-theories-pdf (Accessed: 15 October 2022).

MLA 7 Citation

Butter, Michael. The Nature of Conspiracy Theories. 1st ed. Wiley, 2020. Web. 15 Oct. 2022.