Excerpt: /294/ Reading Club: Conspiracy Theory

2022-10-05

On Empire of Conspiracy and agency panics. [Patreon Exclusive - Tiers II & III] We focus our discussion on the notion of 'agency panic' that is at the centre of Timothy Melley's account of conspiracy theories in postwar America. Does it apply to the Great Reset and Russiagate equally? Melley's approach is a useful way of understanding what conspiracy theories give voice to – but is Melley defending or attacking the liberal humanist subject? We disagree amongst ourselves.

On Empire of Conspiracy and agency panics.

[Patreon Exclusive - Tiers II & III]

We focus our discussion on the notion of 'agency panic' that is at the centre of Timothy Melley's account of conspiracy theories in postwar America. Does it apply to the Great Reset and Russiagate equally?

Melley's approach is a useful way of understanding what conspiracy theories give voice to – but is Melley defending or attacking the liberal humanist subject? We disagree amongst ourselves.

We then discuss how apathy and paranoia coexist, and wonder whether paranoia characterises the End of the End of History. And does Enlightenment scepticism reside somewhere between these two states?

Finally, we discuss jealous cuck husbands and Obama's idea of an epistemological crisis.

Additional reading: An extensive list of works on conspiracy theory can be found here

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