Comments on: The Religiosity of Conspiracy and Ideology

Question: The Religiosity of Conspiracy and Ideology

Sangermaine — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:02:06 -0800

Does anyone know of any books or articles that look at conspiracy theories from an anthropology of religion or psychology point of view?

I'm interested in looking at studies or analyses of the motivations and development of conspiracy theories. To me they seem to fill the same space in the modern world that religion once did (bringing order to a chaotic world, explaining the unknown, etc). This thread mentioned a couple of books that touch on what I'm trying to find but focused more on collections of various theories rather than analyzing them.

Also, in a similar vein, does anyone know of any material that takes the same kind of look at ideologies? For instance, it's often observed that Communism, especially as practiced in the USSR or China, has many religion-like elements. I'd like to find works that explore that theme.

By: Mr_Crazyhorse

Mr_Crazyhorse — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:09:28 -0800

Prometheus Rising

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:20:03 -0800

This Radio National programme may interest you. They are discussing Karl Popper.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 20:30:18 -0800

Three of my favorites...

Why People Believe Weird Things

The Demon-Haunted World

Watch the Skies

By: bonobo

bonobo — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:55:16 -0800

¤ Crank Dot Net resources page
¤ The Religious Movements Homepage Project @ University of Virginia
¤ Book: Evil Incarnate
¤ A Conspiracy of Really Smart and Really Evil Demons

By: googly

googly — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:54:34 -0800

The anthropologists Kathleen Stewart and Susan Harding have done a lot of work on this topic. See:

Kathleen Stewart, Susan Harding, "Bad Endings: American Apocalypsis" Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 28, 1999 (1999), pp. 285-310.

Kathleen Stewart, Susan Harding, "Anxieties of Influence: Conspiracy Theory and Therapeutic Culture in Millennial America" in Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order, ed. Harry G. West, Todd Sanders

See also Stewart's essay in the edited collection by postmodern anthropologist George MArcus, Paranoia within Reason: A Casebook on Conspiracy as Explanation.

You might also be interested in this article, by a religious studies scholar.

Finally, the classic study on conspiracy theories in American life is historian Richard Hofstadter's The Paranoid Style in American Politics.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:12:43 -0800

Seconding Why People Believe Weird Things.