Conspiracy/Theory

In an era of intensified information warfare, ranging from global disinformation campaigns to individual attention hacks, what are the compelling terms for political judgment? How are we to build the knowledge needed to recognize and address important forms of harm when critical information is either not to be trusted or kept hidden? Rather than approach conspiratorial narrative as an irrational response to an obviously decipherable reality, __Conspiracy/Theory__ identifies important affinities between conspiracy theory and critical theory. It recognizes the motivation people have—in their capacities as experts, theorists, and ordinary citizens—to search for patterns in events, to uncover what is covert and attend to dimensions of life that might be hiding in plain sight. If it seems strange that so many find themselves living in incommensurable, disorienting realities, the multidisciplinary contributors to __Conspiracy/Theory__ explore how and why that came to be. Across history and geography, contributors inquire into the affects and imaginaries of political mobilization, tracking counterrevolutionary projects while acknowledging collective futures that demand conspiratorial engagement. Contents 1 Introduction: Conspiracy/Theory • Joseph Masco and Lisa Wedeen Part I / Organizing Fictions 01 Impasse and Genre in American Politics and Literature • George Shulman 02 Where Did AIDS Come from? • Lochlann Jain 03 A False Flag • Joseph Masco 04 Conspiracy Attunement and Context: The Case of the President’s Body • Elizabeth Anne Davis 05 Conspiracy, Theory, and the “Post-Truth” Public Sphere • Timothy Melley Part II / Atmospheres of Doubt 06 On Uncertainty and the Question of Judgment • Lisa Wedeen 07 Resonant Apophenia • Susan Lepselter 08 The Play of Conspiracy in Plato’s Republic • Demetra Kasimis 09 An Economy of Suspicion: On the “Military-Civilian Divide” and the New American Militarism • Nadia Abu el-Haj Part III / The Force of Capital 10 Conspiracies of Theory: Of Gold in the Shadow of Deindustrialization • Rosalind C. Morris 11 Adrian Piperand Alien Conspiracies of Bullying and Whistleblowing • Joseph Dumit 12 Humanitarian Profiteering in the Central African Republicas Conspiracy and Rumor • Louisa Lombard 13 Confessions of an Accused Conspiracy Theorist: The Financialization of Higher Education • Robert Meister Part IV / The Politics of Enmity 14 Conspiracy and Its Curious Afterlives • Faith Hillis 15 Comedy of Terrors: National Security Fictions and the Origins of al-Qa‘ida • Darryl Li 16 After Muslims: Authority, Suspicion, and Secrecy in the Liberal Democratic State • Hussein Ali Agrama 17 Flame and Steel inside the Capitol • Kathleen Belew Epilogue • Joseph Masco and Lisa Wedeen Acknowledgments References References Contributors Index In an era of intensified information warfare, ranging from global disinformation campaigns to individual attention hacks, what are the compelling terms for political judgment? How are we to build the knowledge needed to recognize and address important forms of harm when critical information is either not to be trusted or kept hidden? Rather than approach conspiratorial narrative as an irrational response to an obviously decipherable reality, Conspiracy/Theory identifies important affinities between conspiracy theory and critical theory. It recognizes the motivation people havein their capacities as experts, theorists, and ordinary citizensto search for patterns in events, to uncover what is covert and attend to dimensions of life that might be hiding in plain sight. If it seems strange that so many find themselves living in incommensurable, disorienting realities, the multidisciplinary contributors to Conspiracy/Theory explore how and why that came to be. Across history and geography, contributors inquire into the affects and imaginaries of political mobilization, tracking counterrevolutionary projects while acknowledging collective futures that demand conspiratorial engagement. Contributors. Nadia Abu El-Haj, Hussein Ali Agrama, Kathleen Belew, Elizabeth Anne Davis, Joseph Dumit, Faith Hillis, Lochlann Jain, Demetra Kasimis, Susan Lepselter, Darryl Li, Louisa Lombard, Joseph Masco, Robert Meister, Timothy Melley, Rosalind C. Morris, George Shulman, Lisa Wedeen