The politics of conspiracy theories
A University of Texas Plan II junior honors seminar, 2024
This narrative-style syllabus describes an inter-disciplinary course for UT-Austin honors students. A more complete document is provided elsewhere to address the contractual relationship with students and the university, but below I use this space for selected readings, topical reflections, and emerging questions. Over the years I have been unsatisfied with the traditional writing model, in which students write for the instructor to satisfy a course requirement. By making the work available on this medium.com site I would rather view it as potentially contributing to an educated conversation about our issues — thus, I hope, taking it more seriously.
Course description:
The flood of misinformation in the public sphere has become an existential threat to democratic society, abetted by the post-truth environment where authoritarian assertion replaces traditional norms of reasoned argument. From 9/11 “truthers” and “anti-vaxxers” to QAnon, the rise of conspiracy theories poses a particularly vexing challenge to the political system, aided notably by former president Trump, who exploited the racially-tinged “birtherism” conspiracy to gain attention and question the legitimacy of President Barack Obama. Trump’s false charges of election fraud later laid the groundwork for the January 2021 attack on the capitol by violent extremists and continues to this day.
This course will explore the roots of conspiracy theories, including their links to political psychology and religious fundamentalism, considering how they threaten public health, divide families (including, no doubt, some of yours), and threaten to undermine the political system itself. The consequences of conspiracy thinking often fall dis-proportionately on minority communities, which have had valid reason historically to be suspicious of government intentions. “Stop the steal” election corruption charges have led to proposals for what amounts to voter suppression in minority communities, and African-American citizens were less likely to trust Covid-19 vaccination efforts. The current media eco-system, with its algorithm-driven digital platforms, facilitates the formation of filter-bubbles and spread of conspiracy theories. So, in addition to exploring the historical and other roots of the phenomenon, that eco-system must be understood. Students will identify a contemporary conspiracy theory example and trace its path through the information system (see 2022 and 2023 projects).
Objectives:
If this course does what I intend, students will be able by the end of the semester…
· To understand the various beliefs characterized as conspiracy theories
· To know how to analyze this phenomenon from different scholarly perspectives
· To appreciate the relationship between conspiracy thinking and democratic political systems (including threats to their civic norms and institutions)
· To develop original research-based analysis of some recent conspiracy theory case
· To clearly communicate research insights in multi-media and written form
What we’ll read
Festinger, L., Riecken, H. & Schachter, S. (1956). When prophecy fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. Pinter & Martin.
Hofstadter, R. (1952). The paranoid style in American politics. Harvard University Press. (I’ll provide this chapter via canvas; book contains optional other essays.)
Konda, T. (2019). Conspiracies of conspiracies: How delusions have overrun America. University of Chicago Press.
Oliver, E. and Wood, T. (2018) Enchanted America: How Intuition and Reason Divide Our Politics. University of Chicago Press.
Rosenblum, N. & Muirhead, R. (2019). A lot of people are saying: The new conspiracism and the assault on democracy. Princeton University Press.
Other readings (via Canvas):
Duin, J. 2021 “Christian prophets,” in Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/18/how-christian-prophets-give-credence-to-trumps-election-fantasies-469598
Fister, B. 2021 “How librarians can fight QAnon,” in The Atlantic
Lorenz, T. 2021 “Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory,” New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/technology/birds-arent-real-gen-z-misinformation.html?smid=url-share
Pettipiece, T. 2021 “From the New Testament to QAnon,” in The Conversation
What you’ll do
Timeline analysis group assignment (20%):
Scholars are referring to our current news environment as a “hybrid media system,” a complex interaction of traditional news organizations, partisan media, and social media platforms. To make sense of it, it is helpful to create a “timeline” for some conspiracy related phenomenon, showing how news moves through this eco-system over time. We will use “Timeline JS,” a story-telling tool developed by the Knight Lab at Northwestern University. Here are instructions http://timeline.knightlab.com/#make; and here is a video describing how to use the application: https://vimeo.com/143407878. A recent example from a professional news organization, Texas Public Radio, is found here.
You will work in groups of two or three. First, you’ll identify a “story” that developed over time. Although not exactly a conspiracy theory, an example is this story by Rosenberg & Barnes (8/11/2020), “A Bible burning,” https://nyti.ms/2XRwuBo). The story documents how a video of a “Bible burning” in a street protest was picked up by a number of online information brokers-sources, including Russian-backed, ending up as ammunition for political attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement. A Timeline would help illustrate how it all began and the complex movement of the information through the system. There are many such examples you could use for your own project. You will include a maximum of 20 slides in your project, which can use a variety of multi-media elements.
A written commentary accompanying the timeline will walk the reader through your analysis and will put the path of this conspiracy theory in context, assisted by class readings (referenced) helping understand the factors that affected that path, its evolution, distortion, and amplification. I will help you, and we will post your final projects to a Medium.com site for public sharing.
Final paper, short version (3 to 4 pages + references) (10%)
The paper should focus on articulating an argument in a style consistent with Plan II thesis expectations. Develop some theme introduced in the course that you have researched, supported by solid sources with particular reference to the scholarly literature. These can include historical, social science, and think tank reports, with special attention encouraged to how a particular community is affected by or is implicated in helping promote certain conspiracy theories, and how the cause of social justice and equity is affected (e.g., attempts to link Black Lives Matter protests to Antifa extremists). What kernel of truth may lie within a conspiracy theory for a particular community (e.g., the legacy of the Tuskegee syphilis study of black men in helping promote the belief that the government used the AIDS virus against minority communities).
Caution: Although it says “short version” this is a paper! Not an outline, not the first half, not a list of bullet points, but a fully conceptualized idea with a beginning, middle, and end — and with all the references you will use for the final version. I will give you a sense of a preliminary grade (or whether your paper meets expectations of Plan II), and you should try to address any concerns in order to get full credit for the final version.
Final paper project, long version (10 pages + references) (25%):
In the final version you will extend your draft to respond to feedback from me and others.
Final paper presentation (10%)
Present your work to the class — 5 to 7 minutes with 3 to 4 minutes for questions during one of the final class meetings. You’ll be expected to show a solid grasp of the subject and be able to give example from your key sources. Don’t try to wing it and rely on your innate brilliance!
Schedule for 2024 offering
Week 1: Introductions
(Everyone is expected to do the readings before class, and often a brief discussion response, but I’ll be more specific as we go about what goes with each day within the weeks below. Discussion leaders will lead, but it will go better if everyone is informed.)
Jan. 16: Introductions
Jan. 18: The world of conspiracy thinking and media
Reading:
Konda: Intro
Fister 2021, librarians vs. Q
Lorenz 2021, Birds aren’t real
Week 2
Jan. 23: Historical roots and the U.S. experience
Jan. 25: It’s not a conspiracy theory if it’s true
Reading:
Konda: ch. 1, 2, 3
Week 3
Jan. 30: The deep state — 9/11 and other false flags
Feb. 1: Conspiracies go mainstream: Pizzagate, QAnon, and other pedophiles
Reading:
Konda: ch. 12, 15, 16
**Discussant 1
Week 4
Feb. 6: Attack on expertise
Feb. 8: Health & anti-science
Reading:
Konda: ch. 11, 17
Oliver: ch. 7
**Discussant 2
Week 5
Feb. 13: Whiteness, nationalists and anti-Semites
Feb. 15: An historical perspective: The American context
Reading:
Konda: ch. 7, 13
Hofstadter: Paranoid style in American politics
**Discussant 3
Week 6
Feb. 20: Social-psychology & the susceptible mind
Feb. 22: Religion, belief & prophesy
Reading:
Duin 2021, “Christian prophets”
Pettipiece, T. 2021 “From the New Testament to QAnon”
Festinger: When prophesy fails, chs. I, V-VIII, epilogue, appendix
**Discussant 4
Week 7
Feb. 27: The new conspiracism
Feb. 29: Magical thinking and its measurement
Reading:
Muirhead: section I
Oliver: intro, ch. 1 & 2
**Discussant 5
Week 8
March 5: Who are the conspiracists?
March 7: The big one — anti-semetism and the New World Order
Reading:
Oliver: ch. 3, 4, 5, 6
Konda: ch. 4, 8
**Discussant 6
Week 9 **********Spring Break************
Week 10
March 19: Introducing the media-ecosystem and timelines
March 21: TBA
Week 11
March 26: Political challenge of magical thinking
March 28: Consult on timelines
Reading:
Oliver, ch. 8
Konda, ch. 18
**Group timeline project due, March 28, 5:00 p.m.
Week 12
April 2: Timeline presentations
April 4: Timeline presentations
Week 13
April 9: Who rules America? Anti-authority theories
April 11: Delegitimating democracy
Reading:
Muirhead, section II
Konda: 10, 11, 14
**Discussant 7
Week 14
April 16: **Consult on papers
April 18: Defending democracy
Reading:
Muirhead, section III
**Final Paper, short version due, April 19, 5:00 p.m.
Week 15
April 23: Final paper presentations
April 25: Final paper presentations
**Final paper, long version due: April 29, 5:00 p.m.
