Tag: conspiracy

Inner workings: On Conspiracies

Arena Online

John W. Moyle

18 Nov 2022

Perversely, distrust of these institutions means that when people’s intuitions appear to be rejected, or the knowledge they value undermined, it becomes a type of validation: if they say it’s false, it must be true!

‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’: Join the in-group, recognise the conspiracy

Arena Online

Mark Furlong

14 Oct 2021

To be sensibly upbeat about what is coming round the corner is a big ask. Much easier is to sum it up and say, ‘It’s not my fault. We have been cheated’.

Apocalypse Wow!: The thing about conspiracies

Arena Online

Robert DiNapoli

15 Apr 2021

When you realise that the very same itch to get to the bottom of things underlies the book of Revelation, The Wizard of Oz and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, you can begin to perceive what a big, rough beast the apocalyptic genre really is.

Antennas Aflame: Cybernetics, Conspiracies and 5G

Arena Quarterly no. 4

Timothy Erik Ström

Dec 2020

Much of mainstream liberal commentary on the 5G conspiracy consists of snide dismissals that blame credulous individuals for inaccurate beliefs. Yet, given how widespread the 5G conspiracies have become, it is not enough to dismiss them...

Non-consensual reality: Conspiracy thinking, delusions and disputed truth

Arena Online

Mark Furlong

12 Nov 2020

Feeding into this inchoate state of transgression is a cross-current of vectors: our knowledge of impending climate catastrophe, the disavowed madness of the economic system, the danger and transformative power of COVID-19, galloping I-centredness, social fragmentations, and more. This welter of concerns raises the deepest anxiety.

Plagued by Chaos: An Inside View on the Anti-lockdown Protests

Arena Online

Scobie M

22 Oct 2020

As lockdown restrictions slowly ease, a peruse of the encrypted networks used by anti-lockdown protesters reveals the extent to which confused allegiances and conspiracy theories have plagued the movement.