Conspiratorial Storytelling and Environmental Crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACT What happens when the narrative of conspiracy theory is used to represent the ecological crisis? Among climate scientists, conspiracy theories are often considered harmful, because they spread doubt about the global scientific consensus on climate change. In recent years, however, the rhetoric of conspiracy theory has become increasingly common among environmental filmmakers who use its narrative conventions to tell stories about complex environmental issues. This article explores this trend by analysing the Netflix documentary, Seaspiracy (2021), which portrays the oceanic crisis as the result of global corruption. The article demonstrates how the film’s high narrative velocity, its negotiation of individual agency, and its construction of ‘hierarchies of scale’ create an ambiguous depiction that is both overwhelming and reductive, yet also highly engaging and, potentially, empowering. Reflecting on this ambiguity, the article argues that this emergent subgenre provides insights into our shifting relations with the ecological crisis and its representational challenges.