Conspiracy Narratives Research Articles

Stolen Transformation, Conspiracy Theories and Female Detectives in Contemporary East-Central European Films and Series

The essay discusses the surging popularity of crime fiction as a reflection of the evolving social climate and the erosion of illusions regarding the post-socialist transformation in the 2010s Central Europe. It focuses on Entanglement (2011), a Polish paranoia thriller, X – The eXploited (2018), a Hungarian political thriller and Sleepers (2019), a Czech HBO production spy thriller series to examine how they portray symptoms of social and political crisis, perceived manipulation of the transition, and the struggle for female individual agency. These films offer a unique portrayal of the notion of a ‘stolen’ regime change, framed within conspiracy narratives suggesting the involvement of former state security personnel who managed to maintain their influence during the transition. Additionally, each narrative features a female protagonist who embarks on an investigation, uncovering a political conspiracy intertwined with her personal history. The fusion of conspiracy thriller elements with the emotional detective archetype represents a pivotal characteristic of these films, underscored by their transnational ambiguity. With the coupling of conspiracy narrative and female emotional detectives, paranoia and individual suffering, these films highlight the prevailing ­disillusionment and the sense of inaction that characterizes the contemporary social climate in the region.

Narrating Conspiracy Theories: A Paradoxical Ethics of Otherness, Propaganda and Mistrust

Reflecting conspiracy theories in contemporary fiction actualises conspiratorial thinking as a specific sociocultural phenomenon and narrative. Four symptomatic novels – George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Ahmed Khaled Towfik’s Utopia, and Stephen King’s The Institute – have been analysed from a conspiratorial perspective to illuminate the most efficient ways of shaping the human perception of reality. For this purpose, the following conspiracy elements have been delineated to be the basis of the novels’ poetics: otherness, propaganda, and mistrust. They affect the authors’ strategies of storytelling in the books written in the era of the end of truth. Following an interdisciplinary approach that primarily includes the method of narrative construction and semiotic analysis, the article focuses on the conspiracy elements for plotting the selected novels and explicates conspiracy narratives for manifesting the paradoxical ethics of truth as fiction. Conceptualising this idea in the sociocultural context confers to such a kind of literature a new ethical dimension.

Methodology of the excluded: conspiracy as discourse in the eastern DRC

ABSTRACT This article seeks to theorise the importance of locally produced narratives of conflict and peacekeeping which can be used to diversify our understanding of conflict. These narratives are often dismissed as ‘conspiracy theories’ by international peacebuilders and disregarded as ‘unverifiable’ by researchers. But the people who articulate these narratives often have extensive lived experience of conflict. Consequently, they demonstrate sophisticated informal theorising, resistance to malevolent power, and experience-led knowledge in their narratives. Engaging more seriously with these narratives can, therefore, make important contributions to our understandings. Drawing on narratives and stories collected over more than a decade of interview-based and ethnographic field research in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this article shows how conspiracy narratives can be analytically useful in questioning the powerful and enduring logics of international intervention and reveal important yet oft-ignored aspects of peacebuilding failure that need to be addressed if peace is to succeed.

The effects of higher-order human values and conspiracy beliefs on COVID-19-related behavior in Germany

Abstract Aim This article simultaneously examines the influence of Schwartz’ higher-order human values (self-transcendence, openness to change, self-enhancement, and conservation) and conspiracy beliefs on four COVID-19-related dependent variables. Subject and methods Using path analysis with large-scale panel data from Germany (N = 4382), we tested if the correlational effects of higher-order values as independent variables on the perceived threat of the infection event, evaluation of government measures, number of self-initiated measures, and trust toward individuals and institutions involved as dependent variables could be mediated by conspiracy beliefs. Results We found evidence of a significant influence of all four higher-order values on the strength of conspiracy beliefs. In addition, we detected effects of higher-order values and conspiracy beliefs on all four COVID-19-related measures. Self-transcendence with consistently positive and openness to change with consistently negative total, direct, and indirect effects provided the most evident results. The respondents’ country of origin and residence in East or West Germany affected all four COVID-19-related variables. Conclusion This article has shown that belief in conspiracy narratives reveals associations of higher-order values with all four COVID-19-related measures that would not have been apparent without this mediator. In doing so, it contributes to the understanding of how pandemic mitigation measures are implemented differently. The results of this study can improve the ability to develop and enforce policies to increase the acceptance of scientifically accepted efforts in better governance.

Political homophobia

Abstract This article comparatively analyses the rise of anti-LGBT rhetoric in Indonesia and Turkey in the 2010s and early 2020s. In both countries, periods of greater public visibility of LGBTQ+ people in the early 2000s were followed by waves of severe anti-LGBT rhetoric, violence, and legal measures. This analysis focusses on the rhetoric that conservative state and non-state actors use to other non-heteronormative people and to exclude them from the nation or “the people”. My main argument is that state and non-state actors conduct othering of LGBTQ+ people and construct them as dangerous threats to the nation and to the structure of the family. The anti-LGBT narratives are integrated into larger conspiracy narratives of foreign powers undermining the nation.

Staging the “Stolen Transition”: Conspiracy and Collusion in Postsocialist Crime Fiction

AbstractThis article explores how three popular crime novels from the 2000s articulate postsocialist Poland’s most prevalent conspiracy narrative: that of a hidden network (układ) of communist-era secret service agents that have allegedly penetrated the structures and economy of the post-1989 state, thus “stealing” the transition to democracy and capitalism, and making it impossible for the new system to thrive. Whereas previous research has dealt mainly with the political content of this narrative and the way it has been employed in political discourse, this article focuses on its cultural significance and the multiple anxieties from which it stems, including a growing sense of diminished human autonomy and a generalized suspicion of social systems. The paper contributes to a growing body of work on postsocialist conspiracy narratives that takes an increasingly transnational and comparative approach. The novels analyzed in the paper are Zygmunt Miłoszewski’s Uwikłanie (Entanglement, 2007), Marcin Wolski’s Noblista (Nobel Prize Winner, 2008) and Szczepan Twardoch’s Przemienienie (Transfiguration, 2008).

Metalepsis Drifts: for a Figurative Reading of Conspiracy Narratives. The Example of Umberto Eco and the Conspiracy Machine

Many experts on conspiracy theory reduce the phenomenon to its rational, cognitive dimension. 1Yet the aesthetic dimension and narrative pleasure are obvious in conspiracist discourse, whose rhetoric closely follows the codes of popular fiction. Have we not underestimated the quest to “please”? We postulate a continuity between audiences’ attitudes to fiction and to “conspiracy theories”, which have become relatively indistinguishable in the contemporary context of information overload. Umberto Eco’s work is particularly illuminating in this respect, as it focuses on the indistinguishability of the true and the plausible, and metalepsis as a transgression of the fictional pact. The reception of two of his major “conspiracy” novels, Foucault’s Pendulum and The Prague Cemetery, reveals an emancipation of the metaleptic trope: the novelist, although known for his anti-fascism, finds himself accused of complacency towards anti-Semitism.

Detection of Conspiracy Narratives Using the Information Marker Method. A Study in the Methodology and Philosophy of Information

The article will present the main assumptions of the information marker method, which can be used for recognizing the characteristics of conspiracy theories conveyed in the content of informational messages – texts, statements, recordings, etc. The proposed method draws on the conspiracy thinking model CONSPIR (Lewandowsky & Cook 2020) and has a practical component. However, the technique presented in the paper constitutes a modification and addition to the original proposal. First, it deals with a problem frame that is different from that of CONSPIR, since it is applied to formulated information messages. Hence the marker method is not an instrument for analyzing cognitive attitudes or patterns of conspiracy thinking. Secondly, the proposed tool is profiled in terms of content focused on scientific issues (mainly pertaining to the natural and applied sciences). Third, given the characteristics and structure of the communication under consideration, I replace the widely used term “conspiracy theory” with the more universal concept of “conspiracy narrative,” which seems to reflect more adequately the specific features of such information messages. Fourth, given the more specific purpose of the marker method compared to that of the CONSPIR model, I will try (where possible) to refrain from citing specific examples of conspiracy narratives, referring to singular events and personal examples. Consequently, to use a phrase widely used in methodology, the presented technique can be applied to all cases of a given type.

AUDIENCE-GENERATED FEEDBACK ON CONSPIRATORIAL CONTENT ON FACEBOOK AND REDDIT IN SERBIA

Conspiracy theories are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the socio-political discussion. By trusting these theories, society justifies possible events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Through mixed methods research, the article seeks to provide the amount of page-generated and user-generated conspiratorial content that links chemtrails with the COVID-19 pandemic, along with audience-generated feedback on social media content. Facebook and Reddit have been chosen for this research because of their inherently contrasting approaches to content regulation. Facebook’s content moderation tools lacked the impact to remove misinformation, as only 8% of content was flagged as false information. Additionally, even if researched subreddits had two times the amount of relevant content in comparison to relevant Facebook pages, most of the content had 0 upvotes, meaning that the content was either negatively received or lacked adequate support. Serbian-speaking Facebook users expressed support for conspiratorial content on this platform, while Serbian redditors used conspiratorial narratives to ridicule conspiracy theorists. Likes were the most utilized type of feedback on content of relevant Facebook pages, while comments were the most utilized type of feedback on content of relevant subreddits. The importance of this research lies in understanding what conspiratorial narratives try to imply through social media and how the audience interprets and communicates with this content. Keywords: conspiracy theories, social media, chemtrails, pandemic, COVID-19

Conspiracy Everywhere

Conspiracy seems to be everywhere, and not only in the United States, where the “rigged election” conspiracy led a US president to reverse the results of a national election. We consider what is distinctive about contemporary conspiracism and argue that the prevalence of fact-free conspiratorial narratives marks a shift from what Hofstadter called the “pedantic” style of conspiracy theory. We show how conspiracism today threatens democratic institutions and sketch how the articles in this volume (on conspiracism) advance our understanding of conspiracy and democracy.

When do conspiracy theories shape behavioural intentions? The moderating role of the need to evaluate

Conspiracy theories can have detrimental effects on individuals' behaviour in various domains. Understanding when conspiracy beliefs affect behavioural intentions could help in tackling the negative consequences of conspiracy theories. We investigated how experimentally manipulating exposure to conspiracy theories affects individuals' specific conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, their behavioural intentions. Additionally, we tested the moderating role of the need to evaluate (NE), the dispositional tendency to engage in evaluative responding. We expected that the relationship between experimentally strengthened conspiracy beliefs and behavioural intentions would be stronger for high- (vs. low-) NE individuals. Across two studies (total N = 578), exposure to a conspiracy narrative increased specific conspiracy beliefs, which then affected behavioural intentions, but more strongly for those with a high (vs. low) need to evaluate. We find support for our conceptual model across two contexts (climate change, vaccination). Overall, these studies shed light on how the NE shapes the process by which exposure to conspiracy theories affects behavioural intentions, thereby suggesting that accounting for variables related to attitudes and other evaluative responses can help explain when conspiracy beliefs translate into behavioural intentions. These findings could potentially help inform interventions aimed at reducing the negative effects of conspiracy theories.

Book review: Mari-Liis Madisson and Andreas Ventsel, Strategic Conspiracy Narratives: A Semiotic Approach

Book review: Mari-Liis Madisson and Andreas Ventsel, <i>Strategic Conspiracy Narratives: A Semiotic Approach</i>

'Vaccine as a cheat sheet': a metaphor gone awry on Facebook.

COVID-19 vaccine-related conspiracy narratives skyrocketed in social media in the first year of the pandemic. Science communicators have tried to debunk false information as did Vlad Mixich, a Romanian public health expert, who tried to explain on Facebook why the vaccine cannot modify the human DNA. Drawing on the literature on metaphor as a discourse phenomenon, this paper uses a discourse-led approach to metaphor analysis to identify and analyze the metaphors used by Mixich to explain how vaccines work and the mRNA technology underlying the COVID-19 vaccine. A particular metaphor is then given special attention: 'vaccine as a cheat sheet'. The author of the Facebook post seems to use this metaphor deliberately both to clarify vaccine-related information and to mock people susceptible to false information about the vaccine. This paper shows that while the 'cheating' metaphor simplifies abstract knowledge and allows the audience to engage with a complex topic, it also has potential to amplify vaccine-related polarization.

The conspiracy narrative “The Big Lie”—Psychoanalytical considerations on the development of susceptibility to an “alternative reality”

AbstractUsing the narrative “The Big Lie,” which is placed in the socio‐political context, and based on data gathered from social media, clinical material, interviews and documentaries, the author examines from a psychoanalytic perspective the effective power and dynamics of conspiracy narratives that create an “alternative reality” with “conviction capsules,” using lies and distortions of reality consciously employed as means of agitation on the breeding ground of unconscious relational and regression processes. To sketch the emergence and development of this willingness, the author combines the explanations of Wilfred Bion, Susan Isaacs and Herbert Rosenfeld and develops the hypothesis, including the concept of “perverted containing,” that due to unsuccessful containing processes in the earliest relationship experiences, defensively inflexible, sealed “conviction capsules” develop, permeated by fears of confusion and annihilation, by hatred as well as phantasies of powerlessness and superiority. Underlying these, experienced as existentially threatening, are panic about change and excessive identification with a hard, alleged omnipotent object, linked to an unconscious longing for symbiosis with a “savior”—a conglomerate that breeds susceptibility to conspiracy narratives and totalitarian, destructive populist leaders. As one example, the destructive‐symbiotic relationship dynamic between Donald Trump and his supporters is outlined with the escalation of violence.

Undermining support for COVID-19 public health policies: an analysis of the impact of subversive conspiracy narratives on Czech General Practitioners.

Limited knowledge exists regarding the impact of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on the professional practice of general practitioners (GPs). This study aimed to identify the basic characteristics of GPs who endorse COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and compare their level of support for COVID-19 health policies with GPs who do not believe in conspiracies. Between January and February 2021, a representative online survey was conducted among 1163 GPs in the Czech Republic. The sample was designed to be representative of members of The Association of GPs of the Czech Republic. The survey revealed that nearly 14% of the GPs surveyed believed in one or more COVID-19 conspiracies. The average age of GPs who endorsed conspiracies was 58, which was higher than the rest of the sample (average age of 50). GPs who believed in conspiracies were less likely to support COVID-19 public health policies and therapy recommendations, including vaccination. Logistic and linear regression analyses indicated that doctors who believed in conspiracies were 2.62 times less likely to have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Mediation analysis showed that approximately one-quarter (23.21%) of the total effect of trust in government information on support for public health policies was indirectly mediated by the endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. The study findings suggest a concerning association between belief in COVID-19 conspiracies and a reduced level of support for public health policies among GPs. These results underscore the importance of incorporating the 'conspiracy agenda' into medical authorities' more effective public health communication strategies.

Attention, sentiments and emotions towards emerging climate technologies on Twitter

Public perception of emerging climate technologies, such as greenhouse gas removal (GGR) and solar radiation management (SRM), will strongly influence their future development and deployment. Studying perceptions of these technologies with traditional survey methods is challenging, because they are largely unknown to the public. Social media data provides a complementary line of evidence by allowing for retrospective analysis of how individuals share their unsolicited opinions. Our large-scale, comparative study of 1.5 million tweets covers 16 GGR and SRM technologies and uses state-of-the-art deep learning models to show how attention, and expressions of sentiment and emotion developed between 2006 and 2021. We find that in recent years, attention has shifted from general geoengineering themes to specific GGR methods. On the other hand, there is little attention to specific SRM technologies and they often coincide with conspiracy narratives. Sentiments and emotions in GGR tweets tend to be more positive, particularly for methods perceived to be natural, but are more negative when framed in the geoengineering context.

The (In)effectiveness of Conspiracy Theories in the Arab World

ABSTRACT 1 This article explores the spread of conspiracy theories in the Arab world, specifically in the Arabic speaking countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), through a state-security prism. It downplays the common assumption that Arab culture is more prone than others to accepting conspiracy theories and instead establishes a link between the level of Arab states’ roles in policing information and the (in)effectiveness of conspiracy theories. The article argues that, through a top-down dissemination of information, Arab states have played a key role in spreading conspiracy theories to advance their agenda. Inversely, they have also successfully muted conspiracy theories that did not serve their agenda. To illustrate the salient role of Arab states in either spreading and/or muting conspiracies, this article explores three cases. The first case examines the success of Arab states in spreading conspiracy narratives centered on Israel as part of their response to their defeats in the 1948 and 1967 wars. The second case examines the success of some Arab states in muting COVID-19 conspiracy theories, focusing on regimes assessed by Freedom House as “not free” on Internet freedom. The third case focuses on Arab states assessed by Freedom House as “partly free” and shows that they fared just as poorly as their Western counterparts in overcoming vaccine hesitancy.

Mental Health, Messaging and Security in Times of Crisis

This paper considers the effects of wider mental health issues on possible crisis responses actioned by the Australian government, especially responses to extend-ed disruptions to everyday life. Lockdown protests and prominent conspiratorial narratives leading to socially destructive behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic – ranging from violent protests, to the refusal of some population elements to wear masks – give us insight into how the social risks of crises manifest, as well as an opportunity to better understand how governments may mitigate such risks. Using the COVID pandemic as a guide, the paper gives some practical policy recommendations for more effective engagement with mental health stress-ors inherent in an extended crisis, as well as suggestions for more nuanced crisis communication from government that may mitigate the heightened security risks inherent in such crises. Keywords: Conspiracy theories, psychology, sociology, crisis, security policy, government messaging

Do conspiracy theories circulating in the media or their debunking affect people’s trust in the media?

The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered an unprecedented number of conspiracy theories about the virus and the vaccine against the disease. Current research has tried to make sense of the effects of conspiracy narratives and debunking them in both mainstream and social media. However, the effect of such narratives or their debunking on media trust has not been investigated to date. By means of a 2 × 2 experimental design (N = 945) in Romania, we investigate how mainstream and social media content containing conspiracy theories about vaccination against COVID-19 and debunking them influence people’s trust in both mainstream and social media. People’s own beliefs in such narratives are used as moderators of these effects. Findings show that only the debunking content circulating in mainstream media decreases people’s trust in both mainstream and social media, and only for people exhibiting high levels of belief in conspiracy theories, that is only when people are exposed to counter-attitudinal content. Implications for stakeholders are discussed.

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC EXPLOITED BY EXTREMISTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN INDONESIA AND GERMANY

This article aims to show that extreme groups, including their sympathizers, delegitimize the government by exploiting radical narratives during the Covid-19 pandemic. Two countries, namely Indonesia and Germany, as examples in a comparative study through qualitative methodology with risk society theory and conspiracy narratives. The results of the study show four findings, namely (1) the resistance response of extreme groups to the government increased during Covid-19; (2) online dissemination of radical narratives is increasing in both Indonesia and Germany; (3) the characteristics of extreme groups and their sympathizers are almost the same in Germany and Indonesia; and (4) the social life of society that coexists with technology is an entry point for extreme groups on social media. In conclusion, in the future, extreme groups and their sympathizers will always optimize their agenda online, because they succeeded in doing so during the implementation of the Covid-19 social restrictions.