Conspiracy theories in the United States and the Middle East: a comparative approach

Conspiracy Theories in the United States and the Middle East is the first book to approach conspiracy theorizing from a decidedly comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Whereas previous studies have engaged with conspiracy theories within national frameworks only, this collection of essays draws attention to the fact that conspiracist visions are transnational narratives that travel between and connect different cultures. It focuses on the United States and the Middle East because these two regions of the world are entangled in manifold ways and conspiracy theories are currently extremely prominent in both. The contributors to the volume are scholars of Middle Eastern Studies, Anthropology, History, Political Science, Cultural Studies, and American Studies, who approach the subject from a variety of different theories and methodologies. However, all of them share the fundamental assumption that conspiracy theories must not be dismissed out of hand or ridiculed. Usually wrong and frequently dangerous, they are nevertheless articulations of and distorted responses to needs and anxieties that must be taken seriously. Focusing on individual case studies and displaying a high sensitivity for local conditions and the cultural environment, the essays offer a nuanced image of the workings of conspiracy theories in the United States and the Middle East.

Frontmatter --; Acknowledgments --; Contents --; Introduction: Mapping Conspiracy Theories in the United States and the Middle East /; I. The United States and the Middle East --; My Enemies Must Be Friends: The American Extreme-Right, Conspiracy Theory, Islam, and the Middle East /; From Mosaddeq to HAARP: Some Aspects of the Conspiratorial Component of U.S.-Iranian Relations /; "Zionising" the Middle East: Rumours of the "Kissinger Plan" in Lebanon, 1973-1982 /; The Da Vinci Code, Crusade Conspiracies, and the Clash of Historiographies /; II. The Politics of Conspiracy Theory --; The Society of Death and Anglo-American Fears of Conspiracy in Gold Rush California, 1849-1858 /; The Function of Secrecy in Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories: The Case of Dönmes in Turkey /; Hizbullah between Pan-Islamic Ideology and Domestic Politics: Conspiracy Theories as Medium for Political Mobilization and Integration /; III. The Promises of Conspiracy Theory --; Narrating the 'Crisis of Representation': The Cultural Work of Conspiracy in Larry Beinhart's Novels on the Bush Presidencies /; Small and Large Scale Conspiracy Theories and Their Problems: An Example from Turkey /; "It Has All Been Planned": Talking about Us and Powerful Others in Contemporary Syria /; IV. Travelling Theories --; The Transfer of Anti-Illuminati Conspiracy Theories to the United States in the Late Eighteenth Century /; The Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy: The Path from the Cemetery of Prague to Arab Anti-Zionist Propaganda /; Western Theories about Conspiracy Theories and the Middle Eastern Context: The Scope and Limits of Explanatory Transpositions /; V. Theorizing Conspiracy Theory --; The Politics of Conspiracy Theories: American Histories and Global Narratives /; "What kind of man are you?": The Gendered Foundations of U.S. Conspiracism and of Recent Conspiracy Theory Scholarship /; Against the Cure /; Plotting Future Directions in Conspiracy Theory Research /; Bibliography --; List of Contributors / Butter, Michael / Reinkowski, Maurus --; Winter, Aaron --; Fathi, Schirin --; Sleiman, André G. --; Johnsrud, Brian --; Herbert, Christopher --; Nefes, Türkay Salim --; Schmid, Stephan --; Herrmann, Sebastian M. --; Herzog, Christoph --; Rabo, Annika --; McKenzie-McHarg, Andrew --; De Poli, Barbara --; Gray, Matthew --; Dunst, Alexander --; Christ, Birte --; Fenster, Mark --; Knight, Peter --