Conspiracy theory

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The Eye of Providence, seen here on the US $1 bill, has been taken by some to be evidence of conspiracy involving the founders of the United States

A conspiracy theory is an explanatory proposition that accuses two or more persons, a group, or an organization of having caused or covered up, through secret planning and deliberate action, an illegal or harmful event or situation.[1][2][3]

Some scholars suggest that people formulate conspiracy theories to explain, for example, power relations in social groups and the existence of evil forces.[4][5][6][7] It has been suggested by some thinkers that conspiracy theories have chiefly psychological or socio-political origins. Proposed psychological origins include projection; the personal need to explain “a significant event [with] a significant cause;" and the product of various kinds and stages of thought disorder, such as paranoid disposition, ranging in severity to diagnosable mental illnesses. Similarly, socio-political origins may be discovered in the need of people to believe in event causation rather than suffer the insecurity of a random world and universe.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

The effects of a world view that places conspiracy theories centrally in the unfolding of history have been debated, with some saying that it has become “the dominant paradigm of political action in the public mind." Although the term "conspiracy theory" has acquired a derogatory meaning over time and is often used to dismiss or ridicule beliefs in conspiracies,[14] it has also continued to be used by some to refer to actual, proven conspiracies, such as U.S. President Richard Nixon and his aides conspiring to cover up Watergate.

Usage of the term[edit]


According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first use of the phrase "conspiracy theory" occurred in a 1909 article in The American Historical Review.[15][16]

Acquired derogatory meaning[edit]

Originally a neutral term, since the mid-1960s, in the aftermath of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, it has acquired a derogatory meaning, implying a paranoid tendency to see the influence of some malign covert agency in events.[17] The term is often used to dismiss claims that the critic deems ridiculous, misconceived, paranoid, unfounded, outlandish, or irrational.[18] A conspiracy theory that is proven to be correct, such as the notion that United States President Richard Nixon and his aides conspired to cover up Watergate, is usually referred to as something else, such as investigative journalism or historical analysis.[19] Despite conspiracy theorists often being dismissed as a "fringe group," evidence suggests that people from "a broad cross-section of Americans today—traversing ethnic, gender, education, occupation, and other divides" believe in a wide variety of conspiracy theories.[20]

Term of ridicule[edit]


As popular knowledge[edit]



Professor of political science and sociology John George notes that unlike conspiracy theories propagated by extremists, conspiracies prosecuted within the criminal justice system require a high standard of evidence, are usually small in scale and involve "a single event or issue".[23]

Proven conspiracies[edit]

Conspiracy theories are sometimes proven correct, such as the theory that United States President Richard Nixon and his aides conspired to cover up Watergate.[19]

Katherine K. Young observed that advocates of a feminist conspiracy theory of history "deliberately and carefully foster illusions that distort history", noting that "every real conspiracy has had at least four characteristic features: groups, not isolated individuals; illegal or sinister aims, not ones that would benefit society as a whole; orchestrated acts, not a series of spontaneous and haphazard ones; and secret planning, not public discussion" [24]

"Some historians have put forward the idea that more recently the United States has become the home of conspiracy theories because so many high-level prominent conspiracies have been undertaken and uncovered since the 1960s".[25] The existence of such real conspiracies helps feed the belief in conspiracy theories.[26][27][28]

Why people believe[edit]

Belief in conspiracy theories has become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists, and experts in folklore since at least the 1960s, when a number of conspiracy theories arose regarding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Sociologist Turkay Salim Nefes underlines the political nature of conspiracy theories and suggests that one of the most important characteristics of these accounts is their attempt to unveil the "real but hidden" power relations in social groups.[6][7]

To explain evil forces[edit]


The conspiracy theorist's five assumptions[edit]

In his essay "Dealing with Middle Eastern Conspiracy Theories", Daniel Pipes notes that conspiracy theories are outstandingly common in the Middle East and writes that five assumptions "distinguish the conspiracy theorist from more conventional patterns of thought: appearances deceive; conspiracies drive history; nothing is haphazard; the enemy always gains; power, fame, money, and sex account for all".[29]

Lack of control[edit]

Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, a cognitive scientist at the University of Western Australia, asserts that strong supporters of conspiracy theories usually experience a feeling of lack of control. A theory can help a believer regain a sense of order explaining some extraordinary events. Knowing some facts can even bring the feeling of power. Lewandowsky states that belief in conspiracies can be a protective mechanism against the horror of possible disasters.

A lack of trust can also be regained by belief in a conspiracy theory. This also explains why such theories are more popular with members of the lower social classes: the members of the upper class feel more integrated into prominent social, political and economical structures and are more likely to trust the general information they receive.

Another explanation is that people are inclined to believe in ideas that they initially supported. This is called "motivated skepticism" or a "self-sealing nature of reasoning". [30]


Chomsky: secretive coalitions[edit]


Walker's five kinds[edit]

Jesse Walker (2013) has developed a historical typology of five basic kinds of conspiracy theories. The first identifies an "Enemy Outside," with devilish figures mobilizing outside the community and scheming against the community. The "Enemy Within" finds the conspirators lurking inside the nation, indistinguishable from ordinary citizens. The "Enemy Above" involves powerful people manipulating the system for their own gain. The "Enemy Below" features the lower classes ready to break through their constraints and overturn the social order. Finally, there are the "Benevolent Conspiracies," where angelic forces work behind the scenes to improve the world and help people.[32]

Barkun's three types[edit]



Rothbard: shallow vs. deep[edit]

Characterized by Robert W. Welch, Jr. as "one of the few major scholars who openly endorses conspiracy theory", the economist Murray Rothbard has argued in favor of "deep" conspiracy theories versus "shallow" ones. According to Rothbard, a "shallow" theorist observes a questionable or potentially shady event and asks Cui bono? ("who benefits?"), jumping to the conclusion that a posited beneficiary is in fact responsible for covertly influencing events. In contrast, the "deep" conspiracy theorist begins with a suspicious hunch, but goes further by seeking out reputable and verifiable evidence. Rothbard described the scholarship of a deep conspiracy theorist as "essentially confirming your early paranoia through a deeper factual analysis".[33][34]

Conspiracism: a world view[edit]



The term "conspiracism" was popularized by academic Frank P. Mintz in the 1980s.[citation needed] According to Mintz, conspiracism denotes "belief in the primacy of conspiracies in the unfolding of history":[37]


Throughout human history, political and economic leaders genuinely have been the cause of enormous amounts of death and misery, and they sometimes have engaged in conspiracies while at the same time promoting conspiracy theories about their targets. Hitler and Stalin would be merely the 20th century's most prominent examples; there have been numerous others.[39] In some cases there have been claims dismissed as conspiracy theories that later proved to be true.[40][41] The idea that history itself is controlled by large long-standing conspiracies is rejected by historian Bruce Cumings:



Conspiracism as replacing democracy[edit]

Some scholars argue that conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media, contributing to conspiracism emerging as a cultural phenomenon in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and the possible replacement of democracy by conspiracy as the dominant paradigm of political action in the public mind.[4][43][44][45] According to anthropologists Todd Sanders and Harry G. West, evidence suggests that a broad cross-section of Americans today gives credence to at least some conspiracy theories.[46] Belief in conspiracy theories has therefore become a topic of interest for sociologists, psychologists and experts in folklore.

Psychological origins[edit]

According to some psychologists, a person who believes in one conspiracy theory tends to believe in others.[9]


A study published in 2012 also found that conspiracy theorists frequently believe in multiple conspiracies, even when one conspiracy contradicts the other.[47] For example, the study found that people who believe Osama Bin Laden was captured alive by Americans are also likely to believe that Bin Laden was actually killed prior to the 2011 raid on his home in Abottabad, Pakistan.







Epistemic bias[edit]


Another epistemic "rule of thumb" that can be applied to a mystery involving other humans is cui bono? (who stands to gain?). This sensitivity to the hidden motives of other people may be an evolved and universal feature of human consciousness.[citation needed]

Clinical psychology[edit]


Socio-political origins[edit]

Christopher Hitchens represents conspiracy theories as the "exhaust fumes of democracy",[12] the unavoidable result of a large amount of information circulating among a large number of people.






Influence of critical theory[edit]


Latour notes that about 90% of contemporary social criticism in academia displays one of two approaches which he terms “the fact position and the fairy position.” (p. 237) The fact position is anti-fetishist, arguing that “objects of belief” (e.g., religion, arts) are merely concepts onto which power is projected; Latour contends that those who use this approach show biases towards confirming their own dogmatic suspicions as most "scientifically supported." While the complete facts of the situation and correct methodology are ostensibly important to them, Latour proposes that the scientific process is instead laid on as a patina to one's pet theories to lend a sort of reputation high ground. The “fairy position” argues that individuals are dominated, often covertly and without their awareness, by external forces (e.g., economics, gender). (p. 238) Latour concludes that each of these two approaches in Academia has led to a polarized, inefficient atmosphere highlighted (in both approaches) by its causticness. “Do you see now why it feels so good to be a critical mind?” asks Latour: no matter which position you take, “You’re always right!” (pp. 238–239)


Media tropes[edit]

Media commentators regularly note a tendency in news media and wider culture to understand events through the prism of individual agents, as opposed to more complex structural or institutional accounts.[55] If this is a true observation, it may be expected that the audience which both demands and consumes this emphasis itself is more receptive to personalized, dramatic accounts of social phenomena.


Fusion paranoia[edit]


Barkun has adopted this term to refer to how the synthesis of paranoid conspiracy theories, which were once limited to American fringe audiences, has given them mass appeal and enabled them to become commonplace in mass media,[57] thereby inaugurating an unrivaled period of people actively preparing for apocalyptic or millenarian scenarios in the United States of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[58] Barkun notes the occurrence of lone wolf conflicts with law enforcement threatening the established political powers.[59]

Political use[edit]





In a 2009 article, legal scholars Cass Sunstein and Adrian Vermeule considered appropriate government responses to conspiracy theories:


See also[edit]


  1. ^ [The Merriam-Webster Dictionary :]
  2. ^ [The Merriam-Webster Dictionary :]
  3. ^ [The Oxford English Dictionary:]
  4. ^ a b c d e f Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. University of California Press; 1 edition. p. 3. ISBN 0-520-23805-2. "a conspiracy belief is the belief that an organization made up of individuals or groups was or is acting covertly to achieve a malevolent end." 
  5. ^ a b c Berlet, Chip (September 2004). Interview: Michael Barkun. Retrieved 1 October 2009. "The issue of conspiracism versus rational criticism is a tough one, and some people (Jodi Dean, for example) argue that the former is simply a variety of the latter. I don't accept this, although I certainly acknowledge that there have been conspiracies. They simply don't have the attributes of almost superhuman power and cunning that conspiracists attribute to them." 
  6. ^ a b Link text, Turkay Salim Nefes (2013) The Sociological Review Volume 61, Issue 2, pages 247–264.
  7. ^ a b Link text, Turkay Salim Nefes (2012) Journal of Historical Sociology, Volume 25, Issue 3, pages 413–439, September 2012.
  8. ^ a b Justin Fox: Wall Streeters like conspiracy theories. Always have Time Magazine, October 1, 2009.
  9. ^ a b Goertzel (1994). "Belief in Conspiracy Theories". Political Psychology (Political Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 4) 15 (4): 1, 12, 13. doi:10.2307/3791630. JSTOR 3791630. Retrieved 7 August 2006. 
  10. ^ a b Douglas, Karen; Sutton, Robbie (2008). "The hidden impact of conspiracy theories: Perceived and actual influence of theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana". Journal of Social Psychology 148 (2): 210–222. doi:10.3200/SOCP.148.2.210-222. 
  11. ^ a b c Hofstadter, Richard (November 1964). "The Paranoid Style in American Politics". Harper's Magazine. pp. 77–86. Retrieved 4 December 2013. 
  12. ^ a b Hodapp, Christopher; Alice Von Kannon (2008). Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780470184080. 
  13. ^ a b Cohen, Roger (December 20, 2010). "The Captive Arab Mind". The New York Times. 
  14. ^ "20th Century Words" (1999) John Ayto, Oxford University Press, p. 15.
  15. ^ "conspiracy", Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, 1989; online version March 2012. <>. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  16. ^ "The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise: Its Origin and Authorship by P. Orman Ray", review by: Allen Johnson, The American Historical Review, vol.14 No. 4, p. 836
  17. ^ 20th Century Words (1999) John Ayto, Oxford University Press, p. 15.
  18. ^ Birchall, Clare (2006). Knowledge Goes Pop: From Conspiracy Theory to Gossip. Oxford: Berg. ISBN 1-84520-143-4. [page needed]
  19. ^ a b Knight, Peter (2003). Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-57607-812-9. 
  20. ^ Harry G. West; Todd Sanders (17 April 2003). Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order. Duke University Press. pp. 4–. ISBN 0-8223-3024-5. 
  21. ^ Moore, Rebecca (2002). Reconstructing Reality: Conspiracy Theories About Jonestown, Conspiracy Theories section, paragraph 2. Journal of Popular Culture 36, no. 2 (Fall 2002): 200–20. 
  23. ^ George, John; Laird M. Wilcox (1996) American extremists: militias, supremacists, klansmen, communists & others Prometheus Books p. 267.
  24. ^ Katherine K. Young; Paul Nathanson (2010), Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, pp. 275–, ISBN 978-0-7735-3615-9 
  25. ^ Knight, Peter (2003) Conspiracy theories in American history: an encyclopedia, Volume 1; ABC-CLIO; ISBN 978-1-57607-812-9 p. 18.
  26. ^ Jewett, Robert; John Shelton Lawrence (2004) Captain America and the crusade against evil: the dilemma of zealous nationalism Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing p. 206.
  27. ^ Olmsted, Kathryn S. (2011) Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11 Oxford University Press p. 8.
  28. ^ Whitfield, Stephen J. (2004) A companion to 20th-century America Wiley-Blackwell ISBN 978-0-631-21100-6 p. 136.
  29. ^ Pipes, Daniel (1992). "Dealing with Middle Eastern Conspiracy Theories". Orbis 36: 41–56. ISSN 0030-4387. 
  30. ^,manual#!boCkA9
  31. ^ Michael Albert, quoting from Zmagazine. "Conspiracy Theory". Retrieved 23 August 2007. 
  32. ^ Jesse Walker, The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory (2013) excerpt and text search
  33. ^ As quoted by B.K. Marcus in "Radio Free Rothbard," Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol 20, No 2. (SPRING 2006): pp 17–51. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  34. ^ American Opinion. Robert Welch, Incorporated. 1983. 
  35. ^ Berlet, Chip; Lyons, Matthew N. (2000). Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 1-57230-562-2. [page needed]
  36. ^ Bailyn, Bernard (1992) [1967]. 'The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-44302-0. ASIN: B000NUF6FQ. [page needed]
  37. ^ Mintz, Frank P. (1985). The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood. p. 4. ISBN 0-313-24393-X. 
  38. ^ Mintz, Frank P. (1985) [1985]. The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood. p. 199. ISBN 0-313-24393-X. 
  39. ^ Arendt, Hannah (1973) [1953]. The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-607810-4. [page needed]
  40. ^ a b Fenster, Mark (1999). Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3243-X. [page needed]
  41. ^ Dean, Jodi (1998). Aliens in America: Conspiracy Cultures from Outerspace to Cyberspace. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8468-5. [page needed]
  42. ^ Cumings, Bruce (1999). The Origins of the Korean War, Vol. II, The Roaring of the Cataract, 1947–1950. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [page needed]
  43. ^ Camp, Gregory S. (1997). Selling Fear: Conspiracy Theories and End-Times Paranoia. Commish Walsh. ASIN B000J0N8NC. 
  44. ^ Goldberg, Robert Alan (2001). Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09000-5. 
  45. ^ Fenster, Mark (2008). Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. University of Minnesota Press; 2nd edition. ISBN 0-8166-5494-8. 
  46. ^ West, Harry G.; Sanders, Todd (2003).Transparency and conspiracy: ethnographies of suspicion in the new world order. Duke University Press. p. 4.
  47. ^ Wood, Michael J.; Karen M. Douglas; Robbie M. Sutton (2012-01-25). "Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories" (PDF). Social Psychological and Personality Science. Retrieved 8 February 2012. 
  48. ^ van der Linden, S. (2013). "What a Hoax". Scientific American Mind. 24(4): 41–43. 
  49. ^ Baigent, Michael; Leigh, Richard; Lincoln, Henry (1987). The Messianic Legacy. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-0568-4. 
  50. ^ Douglas, Karen; Sutton, Robbie (2011). "Does it take one to know one? Endorsement of conspiracy theories is influenced by personal willingness to conspire". British Journal of Social Psychology 50 (3): 544–552. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.2010.02018.x. 
  51. ^ "Who shot the president?," The British Psychological Society, March 18, 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2005).
  52. ^ "Top 5 New Diseases: Media Induced Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (MIPTSD)" at the Wayback Machine (archived April 26, 2005), The New Disease: A Journal of Narrative Pathology 2 (2004). Retrieved 7 June 2005. Quote: "for relatively rare individuals, an obsessive compulsion to believe, prove or re-tell a conspiracy theory may indicate one or more of several well-understood psychological conditions, and other hypothetical ones: paranoia, denial, schizophrenia, and mean world syndrome." apud Lance Boyle Truthers: the Mental Health Headache, The Westminster Journal, December 27, 2007.
  53. ^ Vedantam, Shankar (2006-06-05). "Born With the Desire to Know the Unknown". The Washington Post (The Washington Post). p. A02. Retrieved 7 June 2006.  "Conspiracy theories explain disturbing events or social phenomena in terms of the actions of specific, powerful individuals," said sociologist Theodore Sasson at Middlebury College in Vermont. By providing simple explanations of distressing events—the conspiracy theory in the Arab world, for example, that the September 11 attacks were planned by the Israeli Mossad—they deflect responsibility or keep people from acknowledging that tragic events sometimes happen inexplicably."
  54. ^ Latour, Bruno. (2004) "Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern." Critical Inquiry, Vol. 30, No. 2., Winter 2004, pp. 225–248
  55. ^ Emke, Ivan (2000). "Agents and Structures: Journalists and the Constraints on AIDS Coverage". Canadian Journal of Communication 25 (3). Retrieved 7 June 2005. 
  56. ^ "The Blame Game". BBC News. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 23 August 2007. 
  57. ^ Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. p. 230. ISBN 0-520-23805-2. 
  58. ^ Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. pp. 207, 210, 211. ISBN 0-520-23805-2. 
  59. ^ Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. pp. 193, 197. ISBN 0-520-23805-2. 
  60. ^ "Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation -". U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Retrieved 5 June 2010. 
  61. ^ Popper, Karl (1945). "14". Open Society and Its Enemies, Book II. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 
  62. ^ a b "Extracts from "The Open Society and Its Enemies Volume 2: The High Tide of Prophecy: Hegel, Marx and the Aftermath" by Karl Raimund Popper (Originally published 1945)". Lachlan Cranswick, quoting Karl Raimund Popper. 
  63. ^ Sunstein, C. R.; Vermeule, A. (2009). "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures". Journal of Political Philosophy 17 (2): 202. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00325.x.  edit


  • American Heritage Dictionary, "Conspiracy theory"
  • Chase, Alston (2003). Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-02002-9. 
  • Goldberg, Robert Alan (2001). Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America. New Haven & London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09000-5. 
  • Hofstadter, Richard (1965). The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-674-65461-7. 
  • Johnson, George (1983). Architects of Fear: Conspiracy Theories and Paranoia in American Politics. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher. ISBN 0-87477-275-3. 
  • McConnachie, James; Tudge, Robin (2005). The rough guide to conspiracy theories. ISBN 1-84353-445-2. 
  • Melley, Timothy (1999). Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8606-8. 
  • Mintz, Frank P. (1985). The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-24393-X. 
  • Johannes Rogalla von Bieberstein, '"Juedischer Bolschewismus". Mythos und Realität'. Graz;Ares 2010 ISBN 978-3-902475-75-6
  • Johannes Rogalla von Bieberstein, 'Der Mythos von der Verschwoerung'. Wiesbaden: Marix 2008 ISBN 978-3-86539-162-9
  • Pipes, Daniel (1997). Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes from. New York: The Free Press. ISBN 0-684-87111-4. 
  • Pipes, Daniel (1998). The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-17688-0. 
  • Popper, Karl R. (1945). The Open Society and Its Enemies. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01968-1. 
  • Sagan, Carl (1996). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. New York: The Random House. ISBN 0-394-53512-X. 
  • Vankin, Jonathan; John Whalen (2004). The 80 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time. New York: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2531-2. 

Further reading[edit]

Conspiracist literature[edit]

External links[edit]