American Conspiracism

Luke Ritter, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Department of History and Political Science, New Mexico Highlands University, USA. He is the author of Inventing America’s First Immigration Crisis: Political Nativism in the Antebellum West (2021).

"Conspiracy theories have quickly become a major part of mainstream political rhetoric, yet scholars have been slow to fully investigate how these theories come to be, and the role they play in affecting social and political outcomes. Further hindering our understanding is the fact that conspiracy theories, due to their numerous causes and consequences, cannot be fully understood from only one disciplinary lens. In this expansive volume, Luke Ritter has assembled some of the brightest minds from across disciplines to forge a new and more complete understanding of how conspiracy theories help or hinder knowledge, the roles conspiracy theories play in society, and what the emergence of conspiracy theories mean for politics and policy. I strongly recommend this important volume for anyone interested in better understanding conspiracy theories."Joseph Uscinski, Ph.D., Professor at University of Miami, USA, Author of American Conspiracy Theories (2014) and Editor of Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them (2018)"The editor and authors behind this book have conspired to produce a scholarly work of deep importance and insight. Why do people believe conspiracy theories? This collection shows that the answers are as complex as the theories themselves. Rather than setting out to dismiss conspiracism as a collection of crackpot ideas or a contemporary crisis, these essays offer an open-minded and rigorous exploration, charting historical throughlines up to the present. Plenty of light is shed on particular ideas and political moments, from 19th-century anti-Catholicism to the death of Elvis. Yet deeper down the rabbit hole it becomes clear that this kind of interdisciplinary effort offers broader insights into how we come to believe anything, and how we function as a society when information and authorities can't always be trusted. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand American conspiracism in all its complexity and contradictions."Rob Brotherton, Ph.D., Lecturer at Barnard College, USA, Author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories (2015)"In the past decade, scientists and practitioners increasingly have realized the prevalence and impact of conspiracy theories in contemporary society. This book offers a fresh, out-of-the-box perspective on conspiracy theories in an American context. How do people construct conspiracy theories, what are their effects, how do conspiracy beliefs relate to nationalism, and what do conspiracy theories mean for the people who believe in them? In 15 innovative essays, scholars from across the humanities and social sciences share their views on these important questions. Each author builds their argument around a case study, such as QAnon, Flat Earth belief, the Satanic Panic, the Ku Klux Klan, the Martin Luther King assassination, COVID-19 denial, and many others. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the causes and consequences of conspiracy theories." Jan-Willem van Prooijen, Ph.D., Endowed Professor of Radicalization, Extremism, and Conspiracy Thinking, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands, Author of The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories (2018)

• 1. Reflections on the American Conspiracism Part I: Knowledge 2. The Epistemology of QAnon 3. The Devil in the Details: The Memory Wars, Trauma Studies, and the Satanic Panic 4. Viral Belief: The Psychology of COVID Conspiracy Theories 5. True Conspiracies: The Legacy of J. Edgar Hoover, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and James Earl Ray Part II: Function 6. Interpersonal Relationships and Online Social Support in the QAnon Age 7. Social Vigilantism and American Conspiratorial Beliefs 8. Taking Conspiracies to Extremes: How Extremist Groups Use Conspiracy Narratives to Stoke Violence 9. Good Conspiracism Part III: Nation 10. Nativism and the Roman Catholic Plot to Destroy America 11. Ku Klux Konspiracism in the 1920s 12. Constitutional Conspiracism: Aryans, Alpha Chads, and White Nationalists 13. Of Borders and Disorders: The U.S.-Mexico Border in the Trump Era Part IV: Meaning 14. Grievance Tales: On the Affective Resonance of “Crazy” Beliefs 15. American Flat Earth Belief 16. Long Live the King: Reviving an American Icarus