Cults and Conspiracies

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Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421422433
Total Pages : 245 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis Cults and Conspiracies by : Theodore Ziolkowski

Download or read book Cults and Conspiracies written by Theodore Ziolkowski and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2017-01-16 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After much investigation, Ziolkowski reinforces Umberto Eco's notion that the most powerful secret, the magnetic center of conspiracy fiction, is in fact "a secret without content."

Conspiracies of Rome

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Author :
Publisher : Independently Published
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (571 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracies of Rome by : Richard Blake

Download or read book Conspiracies of Rome written by Richard Blake and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2021-11-03 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rome, 609 AD Empire is a fading memory. Repeatedly fought over and plundered, the City is falling into ruins. Killers prowl by night. Far off, in Constantinople, the Emperor has other concerns as The Church is beginning to flex its own imperial muscle. Enter Aelric of England: young and beautiful, sexually uninhibited, heroic, if ruthlessly violent - and hungry for the learning of a world that is dying around him. A deadly brawl outside Rome sucks him straight into the high politics of Empire. Soon, Aelric is involved in a race against time to find answers before he ends up as just another corpse in the gutter. Praise for the Novels of Richard Blake 'Fascinating to read, very well written, an intriguing plot and I enjoyed it very much.' - Derek Jacobi, star of I Claudius and Gladiator 'Vivid characters, devious plotting and buckets of gore are enhanced by his unfamiliar choice of period.... Nasty, fun and educational.' - The Daily Telegraph 'He knows how to deliver a fast-paced story and his grasp of the period is impressively detailed.' - The Mail on Sunday 'A rollicking and raunchy read . . . Anyone who enjoys their history with large dollops of action, sex, intrigue and, above all, fun will absolutely love this novel.' - Historical Novels 'It would be hard to over-praise this extraordinary series, a near-perfect blend of historical detail and atmosphere with the plot of a conspiracy thriller, vivid characters, high philosophy and vulgar comedy.' - The Morning Star Richard Blake is a pseudonym for Sean Gabb, who is an historian, writer and university lecturer. He lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.

Textual Conspiracies

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Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472117726
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (721 download)

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Book Synopsis Textual Conspiracies by : James Martel

Download or read book Textual Conspiracies written by James Martel and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engaging political and literary luminaries in an alternative narrative about power

Textual Conspiracies

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Author :
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
ISBN 13 : 0472028197
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Textual Conspiracies by : James Martel

Download or read book Textual Conspiracies written by James Martel and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2011-07-28 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is a sophisticated and fascinating argument written in a very enjoyably entertaining style. It is hard for me to see how readers initially interested in these texts will not be ‘swept off their feet’ by the core assertions of this author, and the devastatingly comprehensive way in which he demonstrates those arguments.” —Brent Steele, University of Kansas In Textual Conspiracies, James R. Martel applies the literary, theological, and philosophical insights of Walter Benjamin to the question of politics and the predicament of the contemporary left. Through the lens of Benjamin’s theories, as influenced by Kafka, of the fetishization of political symbols and signs, Martel looks at the ways in which various political and literary texts “speak” to each other across the gulf of time and space, thereby creating a “textual conspiracy” that destabilizes grand narratives of power and authority and makes the narratives of alternative political communities more apparent. However, in keeping with Benjamin’s insistence that even he is complicit with the fetishism that he battles, Martel decentralizes Benjamin’s position as the key theorist for this conspiracy and contextualizes Benjamin in what he calls a “constellation” of pairs of thinkers and writers throughout history, including Alexis de Tocqueville and Edgar Allen Poe, Hannah Arendt and Federico García Lorca, and Frantz Fanon and Assia Djebar.

Conspiracy Theories

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Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
ISBN 13 : 0816632421
Total Pages : 315 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (166 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracy Theories by : Mark Fenster

Download or read book Conspiracy Theories written by Mark Fenster and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: JFK, Karl Marx, the Pope, Aristotle Onassis, Queen Elizabeth II, Howard Hughes, Fox Mulder, Bill Clinton -- all have been linked to vastly complicated global (or even galactic) intrigues. In this enlightening tour of conspiracy theories, Mark Fenster guides readers through this shadowy world and analyzes its complex role in American culture and politics. Fenster argues that conspiracy theories are a form of popular political interpretation and contends that understanding how they circulate through mass culture helps us better understand our society as a whole. To that end, he discusses Richard Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style in American Politics, the militia movement, The X-Files, popular Christian apocalyptic thought, and such artifacts of suspicion as The Turner Diaries, the Illuminatus! trilogy, and the novels of Richard Condon. Fenster analyzes the "conspiracy community" of radio shows, magazine and book publishers, Internet resources, and role-playing games that promote these theories. In this world, the very denial of a conspiracy's existence becomes proof that it exists, and the truth is always "out there." He believes conspiracy theory has become a thrill for a bored subculture, one characterized by its members' reinterpretation of "accepted" history, their deep cynicism about contemporary politics, and their longing for a utopian future. Fenster's progressive critique of conspiracy theories both recognizes the secrecy and inequities of power in contemporary politics and economics and works toward effective political engagement. Probing conspiracy theory's tendencies toward scapegoating, racism, and fascism, as well as Hofstadter's centrist acceptance of a postwar American"consensus, " he advocates what conspiracy theory wants but cannot articulate: a more inclusive, engaging political culture.

Pseudoscience

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262537044
Total Pages : 537 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Pseudoscience by : Allison B. Kaufman

Download or read book Pseudoscience written by Allison B. Kaufman and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-03-12 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world. In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science. Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy. Contributors David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman

Conspiracy Literature in Early Renaissance Italy

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198863624
Total Pages : 307 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracy Literature in Early Renaissance Italy by : Marta Celati

Download or read book Conspiracy Literature in Early Renaissance Italy written by Marta Celati and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-12-17 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the topic and treatment of conspiracy in fifteenth-century Italian literature. It situates the theme of conspiracy within the literary and historical contexts of the period, examines its representation within four key texts, and reflects on the legacy of these literary-historical works over the following century.

Medieval Intrigue

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1441160493
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (411 download)

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Book Synopsis Medieval Intrigue by : Ian Mortimer

Download or read book Medieval Intrigue written by Ian Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2010-09-16 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this important new work Ian Mortimer examines some of the most controversial questions in medieval history, including whether Edward II was murdered, his possible later life in Italy, the weakness of the Lancastrian claim to the throne in 1399 and the origins of the idea of the royal pretender. Central to this book is his ground-breaking approach to medieval evidence. He explains how an information-based method allows a more certain reading of a series of texts. He criticises existing modes of arriving at consensus and outlines a process of historical analysis that ultimately leads to questioning historical doubts as well as historical facts, with profound implications for what we can say about the past with certainty. This is an important work from one of the most original and popular medieval historians writing today.

Conspiracy Encyclopedia

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Publisher : Franz Steiner Verlag
ISBN 13 : 9781843403814
Total Pages : 638 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (38 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracy Encyclopedia by : Thom Burnett

Download or read book Conspiracy Encyclopedia written by Thom Burnett and published by Franz Steiner Verlag. This book was released on 2006 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conspiracies are everywhere. they are the lifeblood of politics, business and our daily lives. this truly international and all-embracing encyclopedia explains the details of the world's major popular conspiracies, listing them chronologically under subject matter and cross-referencing them continually (because so many conspiracy theories interact on some level). Conspiracies are often international in their sweep and their impact. the brutal stabbing of Julius Caesar (the conspiracy which has defined political assassinations ever since) plunged the Roman Empire into civil war, which then engulfed much of the known western world. More recently the Cambridge spies (Philby, Blunt, MacLean and Burgess) helped Russia throughout WWII and then re-defined the Cold War afterwards, Philby's defection casting a 30-year shadow over CIA/Anglo-American relations. though conspiracies define our everyday lives, there is no body of serious academic research to understand their role, nature or defining characteristics. Most historians prefer to adhere to the cock-up theory of history, in which everything happens by accident or incompetence. Although this view is favoured by academics and historians, it is rejected by a large part of the general public who prefer the evidence of their own lives. However they consume their media, what they see is a mesh of conspiracies that define the texture of their everyday lives, often for the worst. Most people believe that there is a grain of truth in most theories about conspiracies. this book is for them.

Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History [2 volumes]

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Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 668 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History [2 volumes] by : Christopher R. Fee

Download or read book Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History [2 volumes] written by Christopher R. Fee and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2019-05-24 with total page 668 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This up-to-date introduction to the complex world of conspiracies and conspiracy theories provides insight into why millions of people are so ready to believe the worst about our political, legal, religious, and financial institutions. Unsupported theories provide simple explanations for catastrophes that are otherwise difficult to understand, from the U.S. Civil War to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Ideas about shadowy networks that operate behind a cloak of secrecy, including real organizations like the CIA and the Mafia and imagined ones like the Illuminati, additionally provide a way for people to criticize prevailing political and economic arrangements, while for society's disadvantaged and forgotten groups, conspiracy theories make their suffering and alienation comprehensible and provide a focal point for their economic or political frustrations. These volumes detail the highly controversial and influential phenomena of conspiracies and conspiracy theories in American society. Through interpretive essays and factual accounts of various people, organizations, and ideas, the reader will gain a much greater appreciation for a set of beliefs about political scheming, covert intelligence gathering, and criminal rings that has held its grip on the minds of millions of American citizens and encouraged them to believe that the conspiracies may run deeper, and with a global reach.

A Conspiracy of Tall Men

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Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1538746549
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (387 download)

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Book Synopsis A Conspiracy of Tall Men by : Noah Hawley

Download or read book A Conspiracy of Tall Men written by Noah Hawley and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linus Owen is a young professor of conspiracy theory at a small college just outside San Francisco. His marriage is foundering and his wife, Claudia, has gone to Chicago to visit her mother. But if Claudia is in Chicago, how is it that two FBI agents show up at Linus' office and inform him that Claudia has been killed in a plane crash on her way from New York to Brazil? And why did a man named Jeffrey Holden, the vice president of a major pharmaceutical company, buy her ticket and die beside her? Enlisting the aid of two fellow conspiracy theorists, Linus heads across the country in search of answers. But as their journey progresses, it becomes frighteningly clear they've left the realm of the academic and are tangled up in a dangerous, multilayered cover-up. Finally, deep in the heart of the American desert, stunned by an ominous revelation, Linus sees he has a new mission: to try to stay alive. Part Don DeLillo, part Kurt Vonnegut, with writing that is electric, whip-smart and suspenseful at each turn, Noah Hawley draws us into a deliciously labyrinthine world of paranoia and plots.

The Conspiracy of Capital

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781625344014
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (44 download)

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Book Synopsis The Conspiracy of Capital by : Michael Mark Cohen

Download or read book The Conspiracy of Capital written by Michael Mark Cohen and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between the 1880s and 1920s, a broad coalition of American dissidents, which included rabble-rousing cartoonists, civil liberties lawyers, socialist detectives, union organizers, and revolutionary martyrs, forged a culture of popular radicalism that directly challenged an emergent corporate capitalism. Monopoly capitalists and their allies in govern-ment responded by expanding conspiracy laws and promoting conspiracy theories in an effort to destroy this anti-capitalist movement. The result was an escalating class conflict in which each side came to view the other as a criminal conspiracy. In this detailed cultural history, Michael Mark Cohen argues that a legal, ideological, and representational politics of conspiracy contributed to the formation of a genuinely revolutionary mass culture in the United States, starting with the 1886 Haymarket bombing. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, The Conspiracy of Capital offers a new history of American radicalism and the alliance between the modern business corporation and national security state through a comprehensive reassessment of the role of conspiracy laws and conspiracy theories in American social movements.

American Conspiracies

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Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1634509390
Total Pages : 377 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (345 download)

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Book Synopsis American Conspiracies by : Jesse Ventura

Download or read book American Conspiracies written by Jesse Ventura and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-10-06 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Best Seller! New York Times bestselling author Jesse Ventura is back with more conspiracies that our government wishes you didn’t know about! In this explosive account of wrongful acts and ensuing cover-ups, Jesse Ventura offers a different side to the stories we’ve all heard and read about in the history books. He takes a look at the wide gap between what the government knows and what is revealed to the American people. The media is complicit in these acts of deception, often refusing to consider alternate possibilities and dismissing voices that diverge from public opinion. He will look closely at the theories that have been presented over the years and examine the truth as well as the lies. Ventura does not shy away from the tough questions. As he states, “When I get denied something, I do the opposite of getting intimidated—I get angry.” Now with new conspiracies added including information on the CIA torture scandal and the financial meltdown of 2008, you will see how the United States government continues to abuse our civil liberties and why we need to continue to stand up for what we know is right. You may not believe everything in American Conspiracies, but it is guaranteed to make you think harder about everything you do believe. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Strategic Conspiracy Narratives

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429670443
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (296 download)

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Book Synopsis Strategic Conspiracy Narratives by : Mari-Liis Madisson

Download or read book Strategic Conspiracy Narratives written by Mari-Liis Madisson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-13 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strategic Conspiracy Narratives proposes an innovative semiotic perspective for analysing how contemporary conspiracy theories are used for shaping interpretation paths and identities of a targeted audience. Conspiracy theories play a significant role in the viral spread of misinformation that has an impact on the formation of public opinion about certain topics. They allow the connecting of different events that have taken place in various times and places and involve several actors that seem incompatible to bystanders. This book focuses on strategic-function conspiracy narratives in the context of (social) media and information conflict. It explicates the strategic devices in how conspiracy theories can be used to evoke a hermeneutics of suspicion – a permanent scepticism and questioning of so-called mainstream media channels and dominant public authorities, delegitimisation of political opponents, and the ongoing search for hidden clues and coverups. The success of strategic dissemination of conspiracy narratives depends on the cultural context, specifics of the targeted audience and the semiotic construction of the message. This book proposes an innovative semiotic perspective for analysing contemporary strategic communication. The authors develop a theoretical framework that is based on semiotics of culture, the notions of strategic narrative and transmedia storytelling. This book is targeted to specialists and graduate students working on social theory, semiotics, journalism, strategic communication, social media and contemporary social problems in general.

Political Conspiracies in America

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Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253027837
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

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Book Synopsis Political Conspiracies in America by : Donald T. Critchlow

Download or read book Political Conspiracies in America written by Donald T. Critchlow and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2008-03-19 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conspiracy theories have been a part of the American experience since colonial times. There is a rich literature on conspiracies involving, among others, Masons, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, financiers, Communists, and internationalists. Although many conspiracy theories appear irrational, an exaggerated fear of a conspiracy sometimes proves to be well founded. This anthology provides students with documents relating to some of the more important and interesting conspiracy theories in American history and politics, some based on reality, many chiefly on paranoia. It provides a fascinating look at a persistent and at times troubling aspect of democratic society.

Plots, Designs, and Schemes

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
ISBN 13 : 3110346931
Total Pages : 332 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis Plots, Designs, and Schemes by : Michael Butter

Download or read book Plots, Designs, and Schemes written by Michael Butter and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2014-05-08 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plots, Designs, and Schemes is the first study that investigates the long history of American conspiracy theories from the perspective of literary and cultural studies. Since research in these fields has so far almost exclusively focused on the contemporary period, the book concentrates on the time before 1960. Four detailed case studies offer close readings of the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692, fears of Catholic invasion during the 1830s to 1850s, antebellum conspiracy theories about slavery, and anxieties about Communist subversion during the 1950s. The study primarily engages with factual texts, such as sermons, pamphlets, political speeches, and confessional narratives, but it also analyzes how fears of conspiracy were dramatized and negotiated in fictional texts, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown (1835) or Hermann Melville's Benito Cereno (1855). The book offers three central insights: 1. The American predilection for conspiracy theorizing can be traced back to the co-presence and persistence of a specific epistemological paradigm that relates all effects to intentional human action, the ideology of republicanism, and the Puritan heritage. 2. Until far into the twentieth century, conspiracy theories were considered a perfectly legitimate form of knowledge. As such, they shaped how many Americans, elites as well as “common” people, understood and reacted to historical events. The Revolutionary War and the Civil War would not have occurred without widespread conspiracy theories. 3. Although most extant research claims the opposite, conspiracy theories have never been as marginal and unimportant as in the past decades. Their disqualification as stigmatized knowledge only occurred around 1960, and coincided with a shift from theories that detect conspiracies directed against the government to conspiracies by the government.

Conspiracies of Conspiracies

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Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022658593X
Total Pages : 451 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis Conspiracies of Conspiracies by : Thomas Milan Konda

Download or read book Conspiracies of Conspiracies written by Thomas Milan Konda and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2019-03-15 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s tempting to think that we live in an unprecedentedly fertile age for conspiracy theories, with seemingly each churn of the news cycle bringing fresh manifestations of large-scale paranoia. But the sad fact is that these narratives of suspicion—and the delusional psychologies that fuel them—have been a constant presence in American life for nearly as long as there’s been an America. In this sweeping book, Thomas Milan Konda traces the country’s obsession with conspiratorial thought from the early days of the republic to our own anxious moment. Conspiracies of Conspiracies details centuries of sinister speculations—from antisemitism and anti-Catholicism to UFOs and reptilian humanoids—and their often incendiary outcomes. Rather than simply rehashing the surface eccentricities of such theories, Konda draws from his unprecedented assemblage of conspiratorial writing to crack open the mindsets that lead people toward these self-sealing worlds of denial. What is distinctively American about these theories, he argues, is not simply our country’s homegrown obsession with them but their ongoing prevalence and virulence. Konda proves that conspiracy theories are no harmless sideshow. They are instead the dark and secret heart of American political history—one that is poisoning the bloodstream of an increasingly sick body politic.