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"Conspiracism" is a term used by social scientists and scholars to refer to adherents of conspiracy theory and their way of looking at history and the world around them. The term was popularized by academic Frank P. Mintz in the 1980s.

According to Mintz, conspiracism denotes: "belief in the primacy of conspiracies in the unfolding of history" (1985: p.4):

"Conspiracism serves the needs of diverse political and social groups in America and elsewhere. It identifies elites, blames them for economic and social catastrophes, and assumes that things will be better once popular action can remove them from positions of power. As such, conspiracy theories do not typify a particular epoch or ideology" (1985: p.199).

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 most prominent examples; there have been numerous others (Arendt). In some cases there have been claims dismissed as conspiracy theories that later proved to have some basis in facts (Fenster, Dean). But the idea that history is controlled by grandiose or long-standing conspiracies is dubious.

Historian Bruce Cumings, put it like this:

"But if conspiracies exist, they rarely move history; they make a difference at the margins from time to time, but with the unforeseen consequences of a logic outside the control of their authors: and this is what is wrong with 'conspiracy theory.' History is moved by the broad forces and large structures of human collectivities."

The term has also been used by other authors including Michael Kelly, Chip Berlet, and Matthew N. Lyons, among others.

According to Berlet and Lyons, "Conspiracism is a particular narrative form of scapegoating that frames demonized enemies as part of a vast insidious plot against the common good, while it valorizes the scapegoater as a hero for sounding the alarm" (2000: p. 9).

"Conspiracy nut" is a pejorative term sometimes used to describe a conspiracist. It is based upon the perception that such beliefs are unfounded, outlandish, or irrational, or are otherwise unworthy of serious consideration.

See also

• Coincidence theory
• Conspiracy theories (a collection)
• David Icke
• John Birch Society
• Lyndon LaRouche
• Meme
• Producerism
• Protocols of the Elders of Zion
• Pseudohistory
• Tim LaHaye

External links

• "Conspiracism as a Flawed Worldview" by Chip Berlet
• "On Being a Conspiracy Theorist" by Butler Crittenden, Ph.D.

References

• Michael Barkun. 2003. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: Univ. of California. ISBN 0520238052
• Robert Alan Goldberg. 2001. Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300090005
• Chip Berlet & Matthew N. Lyons. 2000. Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. New Yoirk: Guilford Press.
• Daniel Pipes. 1998. The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Daniel Pipes. 1997. Conspiracy: How the Paranoid Style Flourishes and Where It Comes From. New York: The Free Press.
• Frank P. Mintz. 1985. The Liberty Lobby and the American Right: Race, Conspiracy, and Culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood. ISBN 031324393X
• Richard Hofstadter. 1965. The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0674654617
• Bruce Cumings. 1990. The Origins of the Korean War, Vol. II, The Roaring of the Cataract, 1947-1950 Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Hannah Arendt. 1973 . The Origins of Totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
• Mark Fenster. 1999. Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Jodi Dean. 1998. Aliens in America: Conspiracy Cultures from Outerspace to Cyberspace. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

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• Conspiracy theories