A Lot of People Are Saying

The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy

Bibliographic Data

ID6560537
AuthorsRussell Muirhead (0000-0001-9951-4316), Nancy L Rosenblum
Year2019
Pages232
Publication date2019-04-16
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueA Lot of People Are Saying (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherPrinceton University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/j.ctvrdf0qw
OpenAlexW4235371506
ISBN9780691188836, 9780691204758
Open LibraryOL27337201M, OL28126617M
Google BooksJb2tDwAAQBAJ
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new - conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum show how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it. Classic conspiracy theory insists that things are not what they seem and gathers evidence - especially facts ominously withheld by official sources - to tease out secret machinations. The new conspiracism is different. There is no demand for evidence, no dots revealed to form a pattern, no close examination of shadowy plotters. Dispensing with the burden of explanation, the new conspiracism imposes its own reality through repetition (exemplified by the Trump catchphrase "a lot of people are saying") and bare assertion ("rigged!"). The new conspiracism targets democratic foundations - political parties and knowledge-producing institutions. It makes it more difficult to argue, persuade, negotiate, compromise, and even to disagree. Ultimately, it delegitimates democracy. Filled with vivid examples, A Lot of People Are Saying diagnoses a defining and disorienting feature of today's politics and offers a guide to responding to the threat

Computer Science · Educational Leadership and Practices · Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies · Jungian Analytical Psychology · 21st century · Conspiracy theories · Democracy · Politics and government · politics and government · Truthfulness and falsehood · united states

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