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Conspiracy Nation: The Politics of Paranoia in Postwar America
An intriguing interrogation of America’s long-running obsession with conspiracy theories
Why are Americans today so fascinated by Area 51? How did rumors that the AIDS virus originated as a weapon of biowarfare emerge? Why does the Kennedy assassination provoke heated debate over fifty years after the fact, and why did Donald Trump’s birther theories only serve to increase his popularity with voters? The origins of these ideas reveal important facets of American culture and politics.
Placing conspiracy thinking at the center of American history, and challenging the knee-jerk dismissal of conspiratorial thought as deluded and often dangerous, Conspiracy Nation provides a wide-ranging survey of conspiracy theories in contemporary America. In the 19th century, inflammatory rhetoric about slave revolts, the well-publicized specter of the black rapist, and the formation of the Ku Klux Klan all worked as conspiracy theories to legitimate an emerging sense of national consciousness based on an ideology of white supremacy – one that still persists today.
In our contemporary world, panicked responses to increasing multiculturalism and globalization yield new notions of victimhood and new theories about conspiratorial plans for global domination. Offering up a provocative array of examples, ranging from alien abduction to the novels of DeLillo and Pynchon to Tupac Shakur's "paranoid style," Conspiracy Nation documents and unearths the workings of conspiracy in the contemporary moment.
Clare Birchall, Jack Bratich, Bridget Brown, Jodi Dean, Ingrid Walker Fields, Douglas Kellner, Peter Knight, Fran Mason, John A. McClure, Timothy Melley, Eithne Quinn, and Skip Willman
Why are Americans today so fascinated by Area 51? How did rumors that the AIDS virus originated as a weapon of biowarfare emerge? Why does the Kennedy assassination provoke heated debate over fifty years after the fact, and why did Donald Trump’s birther theories only serve to increase his popularity with voters? The origins of these ideas reveal important facets of American culture and politics.
Placing conspiracy thinking at the center of American history, and challenging the knee-jerk dismissal of conspiratorial thought as deluded and often dangerous, Conspiracy Nation provides a wide-ranging survey of conspiracy theories in contemporary America. In the 19th century, inflammatory rhetoric about slave revolts, the well-publicized specter of the black rapist, and the formation of the Ku Klux Klan all worked as conspiracy theories to legitimate an emerging sense of national consciousness based on an ideology of white supremacy – one that still persists today.
In our contemporary world, panicked responses to increasing multiculturalism and globalization yield new notions of victimhood and new theories about conspiratorial plans for global domination. Offering up a provocative array of examples, ranging from alien abduction to the novels of DeLillo and Pynchon to Tupac Shakur's "paranoid style," Conspiracy Nation documents and unearths the workings of conspiracy in the contemporary moment.
Clare Birchall, Jack Bratich, Bridget Brown, Jodi Dean, Ingrid Walker Fields, Douglas Kellner, Peter Knight, Fran Mason, John A. McClure, Timothy Melley, Eithne Quinn, and Skip Willman
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
56 people want to read
About the author
Peter Knight
117 books5 followersSenior Lecturer In American Literature for the University of Manchester.
Knight has written multiple books about conspiracy theories in American culture.
Knight has written multiple books about conspiracy theories in American culture.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 20, 2022
Overall great collection, though slightly outdated in some aspects (which makes sense, a lot happened since 2000). Especially the contributions from Melley, Kellner and Birchall offer very interesting and nuances accounts of conspiracy culture & (academic) theories thereof. The final essay by McClure is the weakest and provides a not very convincing and limited reading of Pynchon & DeLillo
August 15, 2016
A series of essays examining the "Politics of paranoia in postwar America" of uneven quality.
The first section was the best, "Theory of Conspiracy Theories" showed how the existing framework to understand conspiracy theories is inadequate. While the last section the, "Ends of conspiracies" just lost me.
The work uses the television show the X-files as a framework for this and any fan of the show might enjoy this.
The first section was the best, "Theory of Conspiracy Theories" showed how the existing framework to understand conspiracy theories is inadequate. While the last section the, "Ends of conspiracies" just lost me.
The work uses the television show the X-files as a framework for this and any fan of the show might enjoy this.
June 22, 2011
It's not as bad as its cumulative rating suggests, it's just not what it seems. It has a fabulous interesting title but actually is just a compilation of academic essays. This isn't popular reading, don't pick it up expecting it to be.
March 9, 2008
I thought this would be a good over view of how conspiracy theories come about, instead it is a group of very dry academic essays that cover everything from the appeal of the X-Files (that essay is even dull) to the circumstances around Tupac's murder.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews