Full Description
Conspiracy theories are a ubiquitous feature of our times. The Handbook of Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion is the first reference work to offer a comprehensive, transnational overview of this phenomenon along with in-depth discussions of how conspiracy theories relate to religion(s). Bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to political science and the history of religions, the book sets the standard for the interdisciplinary study of religion and conspiracy theories.
Contents
Foreword
Michael Barkun
List of Authors
Introducing the Field: Conspiracy Theory in, about, and as Religion
David G. Robertson, Egil Asprem and Asbjørn Dyrendal
Part 1: Explanations
1 Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Religion\s: What we are Talking about, and Why it is Important
Asbjørn Dyrendal, Egil Asprem and David G. Robertson
2 Rational Enchantments: Conspiracy Theory between Secular Scepticism and Spiritual Salvation
Stef Aupers and Jaron Harambam
3 Is a Belief in Providence the Same as a Belief in Conspiracy?
Brian L. Keeley
4 Are Conspiracy Theories a Surrogate for God?
Michael Wood and Karen Douglas
5 A Web of Conspiracy? Internet and Conspiracy Theory
Joseph E. Uscinski, Darin DeWitt and Matthew D. Atkinson
Part 2: Correspondences
6 The Satanism Scare in Apartheid South Africa
Nicky Falkof
7 "Trust Me, You Can't Trust Them": Stigmatised Knowledge in Cults and Conspiracies
Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Suzanne Newcombe
8 Popular Music, Conspiracy Culture, and the Sacred
Christopher Partridge
9 Close Companions? Esotericism and Conspiracy Theories
Egil Asprem and Asbjørn Dyrendal
10 The Counter-Elite: Strategies of Authority in Millennial Conspiracism
David G. Robertson
Part 3: Locations
11 Buddhism Endangered by Hidden Enemies: Conspiracy Narratives in Sri Lankan Buddhist Present and Past
Sven Bretfeld
12 Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, Contexts
Iselin Frydenlund
13 Islamism and the Instrumentalisation of Conspiracism
Willow J. Berridge
14 Anti-Jewish and Anti-Zionist Conspiracism in the Arab World: Historical and Political Roots
Barbara De Poli
15 A Fantastic People and Its Enemies: An Analysis of an Emerging Albanian Mythology
Cecilie Endresen
16 Was Aristotle an Anti-Semitic Alien? Conspiracy Theory, Ufology, and the Colonisation of the Past in Contemporary Greece
Tao T. Makeeff
17 The Role of Conspiracy Theory in the Aum Shinrikyo Incident
Tsuji Ryutaro
18 Framing of a Conspiracy Theory: The Efendi Series
Turkay Nefes
19 The Third Rome Against the Third Temple: Apocalypticism and Conspiracism in Post-Soviet Russia
Michael Hagemeister
20 Alexander Dugin: Between Eschatology, Esotericism, and Conspiracy Theory
Victor Shnirelman
21 Conspiracy Theories and Neo-Nazism in the Cultic Milieu
Paul Jackson
22 Evil Cult or Persecuted Minority? Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Falun Gong and the Government of the People's Republic of China
Helen Farley
23 The Messiah is a Salesman, Yet Consumerism is a Con(spiracy): The Church of the SubGenius, Work, and the Pursuit of Slack as a Spiritual Ideal
Carole M. Cusack
Afterword: Further Reflections, Future Directions
Egil Asprem, David G. Robertson and Asbjørn Dyrendal
Index
