Conspiracy theories follow a strategic logic: they are tools used by the powerless to attack and defend against the powerful.
Americans have believed in conspiracy theories since before the United States united. A ceaseless array of conspiracy accusations have demonized witches, Freemasons, foreigners, red coats, black helicopters, Mormons, Muslims, Jews, fifth columns, the government, and more recently, Vladimir Putin.
The common assumption is that conspiracy theories are nothing more than the delusions of paranoid minds trying to make sense of an ever more complicated world. However, the evidence tells a different story. Conspiracy theories must conform to this logic, or they will not be successful. In this way, conspiracy theories are for losers.
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This talk took place at the CSICon 2018 in Las Vegas on October 20, 2018
Joseph Uscinski is associate professor of political science at University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. He is co-author of American Conspiracy Theories (Oxford, 2014) and numerous peer-reviewed articles on conspiratorial beliefs. He completed his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Arizona.
