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SoSe 21: The Truth is Out There - Conspiracy Theories and the Politics of Fear

David Bosold, Birte Wege

Kommentar

“9/11 was an inside job.” Birtherism. Pizzagate. QAnon. Jewish space lasers? In the past two decades – and especially the current moment – we appear to have a proliferation (and acceleration) of conspiracy theories. Look a little further into the past, and we see that conspiracies – some real, many more imagined – have been with us for a long time: be it the antisemitic mythology around the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” fears among American slave owners of organized slave rebellion, fears of communist infiltration into the highest levels of US government, questions about who “really” assassinated JFK (as well as MLK and Malcolm X), Watergate, CIA mind-control experiments, chem trails, Area 51… The list appears endless, and raises a number of questions. What is the appeal of conspiracy theories, and why do so many people continue to believe them in spite of all factual evidence to the contrary? What makes a successful conspiracy theory? What role does fear play? How have certain conspiracy theories developed and changed over time? What is new about the current moment? And what can we learn from the many works of fiction that center on conspiracy? In this course we will seek to answer these questions by analyzing a range of conspiracies, from alien abductions to QAnon. We will take an interdisciplinary perspective of conspiracy theories – or rather: conspiracy myths – in recent US history, examining the political, sociological, and economic ramifications of conspiracy theories, as well as their many variations in literature, television, and film. There will also be room within the course structure for students to pursue their own interests in this area via group research projects. Schließen