Full Description
Conspiracy theories are inevitable in complex human societies. And while they have always been with us, their multiplication and proliferation is unprecedented due to increasing knowledge, a sense of powerlessness, and a distrust of elites, that have merged to generate conspiracy theories on a vast scale in our era. In recent years, scholars have begun to study this genuinely important phenomenon in a concerted way. In Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, Joseph E. Uscinski has gathered forty top researchers on the topic to provide the foundational tools and evidence to better understand conspiracy theories not just in the United States, but around the world. Each chapter is informed by three core questions: Why do so many people believe in conspiracy theories? What are their effects? What can or should be done about them? Using systematic analysis, rich discussion, and cutting-edge research, this volume will help us better understand an extremely important, yet relatively neglected, phenomenon.
Contents
Preface
List of Contributors
Chapter 1 Down the Rabbit Hole We Go!
Joseph E. Uscinski
Chapter 2 The History of Conspiracy Theory Research: A Review and Commentary
Michael Butter and Peter Knight
Section I What is a Conspiracy Theory?
Chapter 3 What We Mean When We Say "Conspiracy Theory"
Jesse Walker
Chapter 4 Conspiracy Theory: The Nineteenth-Century Prehistory of a Twentieth-Century Concept
Andrew McKenzie-McHarg
Chapter 5 Media Marginalization of Racial Minorities: "Conspiracy Theorists" in U.S. Ghettos and on the "Arab Street"
Martin Orr and Ginna Husting
Chapter 6 Conspiracy Theories and Philosophy: Bringing the Epistemology of a Freighted Term into the Social Sciences
M R. X. Dentith
Section II How Do Conspiracy Theorists and Non-Conspiracy Theorists Interact?
Chapter 7 On the Democratic Problem of Conspiracy Theory Politics
Alfred Moore
Chapter 8 The Politics of Disruption: Social Choice Theory and Conspiracy Theory Politics
Matthew D. Atkinson and Darin DeWitt
Chapter 9 Learning About Conspiracy Theories: Experiences in Science and Risk Communication with the Public about the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster
Jay T. Cullen
Chapter 10 In Whose Hands the Future?
Stephan Lewandowsky
Chapter 11 Conspiracy Theory Phobia
Juha Räikkä and Lee Basham
Chapter 12 Conspiracy Thinking, Tolerance, and Democracy
Steven M. Smallpage
Section III Are Conspiracy Theories "Anti-Science"?
Chapter 13 Don't Trust the Scientists! Rejecting the Scientific Consensus "Conspiracy"
Josh Pasek
Chapter 14 Conspiratorial Thinking and Dueling Fact Perceptions
Morgan Marietta and David C. Barker
Chapter 15 The Conspiracy Theory Pyramid Scheme
Ted Goertzel
Section IV What is the Psychology of Conspiracy Theorizing?
Chapter 16 Conspiracy Theory Psychology: Individual differences, Worldviews, and States of Mind
Michael J. Wood and Karen M. Douglas
Chapter 17 Conspiracy Rumor Psychology
Nicholas Difonzo
Chapter 18 The Truth is Around Here Somewhere: Integrating the Research on Conspiracy Beliefs
Preston R. Bost
Section V What Do Conspiracy Theories Look Like in the United States?
Chapter 19 Conspiracy Theories in U.S. History
Kathryn S. Olmsted
Chapter 20 Polls, Plots, and Party Politics:Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary America
Adam M. Enders and Steven M. Smallpage
Chapter 21 How Conspiracy Theories Spread
Darin DeWitt, Matthew D. Atkinson, and Drew Wegner
Section VI What Do Conspiracy Theories Look Like Around the World?
Chapter 22 Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories in Great Britain and Europe?
Hugo Drochon
Chapter 23 Why the Powerful (in Weak States) Prefer Conspiracy Theories
Scott Radnitz
Chapter 24 Conspiracy Theories in Post-Soviet Russia
Ilya Yablokov
Chapter 25 The Collective Conspiracy Mentality in Poland
Wiktor Soral, Aleksandra Cichocka, Michal Bilewicz, Marta Marchlewska
Chapter 26 The Conspiratorial Style in Turkish Politics: Discussing the Deep State in the Parliament
Türkay Salim Nefes
Chapter 27 The Hidden and the Revealed: Styles of Political Conspiracy Theory in Kirchnerism
Tanya Filer
Section VII How Should We Live with Conspiracy Theories?
Chapter 28 Conspiracy Theories and Religion: Superstition, Seekership, and Salvation
David G. Robertson and Asbjørn Dyrendal
Chapter 29 The Credulity of Conspiracy Theorists: Conspiratorial, Scientific, and Religious Explanation Compared
Brian L. Keeley
Chapter 30 Empowerment as a Tool to Reduce Belief in Conspiracy Theories
Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Chapter 31 Conspiracy Theories for Journalists: Covering Dubious Ideas in Real Time
Joseph E. Uscinski
References
Index
