Negative capacity. From a psychoanalytic notion to a democratic strategy for dealing with conspiracy theories

Abstract

Authors claim an innovative viewpoint on the conspiracy theories phenomenon. Considering them as epiphenomena of the crisis, authors do not see them as a mere attack to democracy (although they may have anti-democratic effects), rather they see them as creations in response to the human need for meaning. Thinking about the concepts of power and knowledge democracy, authors argue that the development of negative capacity can represent a strategy for individual and social development in a democratic perspective. Such capacity, if cultivated in a systemic and systematic way, can support the coexistence of different narratives (conspiracy and non-conspiracy) and well-being, providing an important aid to the individual and social right to understand the world while respecting otherness.