Truth decayAssault on Democracy: The New Conspiracism
Conspiracy theory has always been part of political life. Sometimes far-fetched, sometimes accurate, and sometimes a confusing mix of the two, traditional conspiracy theory tries to peel away deceptive masks to show how the world really works. It demands a cause proportionate to the dire effect. In a recently published book, two scholars argue that in today’s conspiracies, conspiracy and theory have been decoupled. We therefore face a distinctively malignant new phenomenon of conspiracy without the theory. Like all conspiracism, it rests on the certainty that things are not as they seem, but conspiracy without the theory dispenses with the burden of explanation. We see no insistent demand for proof, no exhaustive amassing of evidence, no dots revealed to form a pattern, no close examination of the operators plotting in the shadows. Conspiracy without the theory exists less to explain than to affirm. The result is toxic for a stable society and democratic politics.
Conspiracy theory has always been part of political life. Sometimes far-fetched, sometimes accurate, and sometimes a confusing mix of the two, classic conspiracy theory tries to peel away deceptive masks to show how the world really works. It demands a cause proportionate to the dire effect. Today, however, we are facing something new and dangerous. In their new book on conspiracies – what they call “Conspiracism” — Nancy Rosenblum of Harvard University and Russell Muirhead of Dartmouth College argue that in today’s conspiracies, conspiracy and theory have been decoupled. We therefore face a distinctively malignant new phenomenon of conspiracy without the theory. Like all conspiracism, it rests on the certainty that things are not as they seem, but conspiracy without the theory dispenses with the burden of explanation. We see no insistent demand for proof, no exhaustive amassing of evidence, no dots revealed to form a pattern, no close examination of the operators plotting in the shadows. Conspiracy without the theory exists less to explain than to affirm. Repetition and assent reinforce and signal group affinity—what has come to be called “tribalism.”
There used to be a time when conspiracy-peddlers had to find shards of evidence and contort them to convince people, but these days are gone. Now, all that is needed is the peddlers’ malevolence. If a concocted scenario cannot be proved, then perhaps it can’t be disproved either. Democracy Digest notes that this is toxic for a stable society and politics. So how did we get here, and how do we get out?
In an interview with the Economist earlier this week, Rosenblum and Muirhead, the authors of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy (Princeton, 2019), explained their concept of conspiracism, and the danger it poses for democracy.
