1st Edition

Contemporary Conspiracy Culture Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability

By Jaron Harambam Copyright 2020
256 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

254 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

254 Pages 2 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

In this ethnographic study, the author takes an agnostic stance towards the truth value of conspiracy theories and delves into the everyday lives of people active in the conspiracy milieu to understand better what the contemporary appeal of conspiracy theories is. Conspiracy theories have become popular cultural products, endorsed and shared by significant segments of Western societies. Yet our... Read more

1. Introduction

2. Methodology: Studying the Dutch Conspiracy Milieu

3. Contemporary Conspiracy Discourses: How a Power Elite Controls the World

4. From the Unbelievable to the Undeniable: Epistemological Pluralism, or How David Icke Supports His Super Conspiracy Theory 

5. Breaking Out of the Matrix: How People Explain Their Biographical Turn to Conspiracy Theories 

6. “I Am Not a Conspiracy Theorist” Relational Identifications in the Dutch Conspiracy Milieu

7. Contesting Epistemic Authority : Conspiracy Theorists on the Boundaries of Science

8. Conclusion

9. Epilogue: Whose Side Am I On?

Biography

Jaron Harambam is an interdisciplinary trained sociologist working on news, disinformation, and conspiracy theories in today’s algorithmically structured media ecosystem. He received his PhD in Sociology from Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands (highest distinction), held a postdoctoral research position at the Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and is now Marie Sklodowksa-Curie Action Individual Fellowship holder at the Institute for Media Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium.