Authors: Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum
Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new—conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump.
In “A Lot of People Are Saying,” Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum show how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it, says a review on the Princeton University Press website.
Classic conspiracy theory insists that things are not what they seem and gathers evidence to tease out secret machinations. The new conspiracism is different. There is no demand for evidence and no dots revealed to form a pattern.
The new conspiracism targets democratic foundations—political parties and knowledge-producing institutions.
Filled with vivid examples, the book diagnoses a defining and disorienting feature of today’s politics and offers a guide to responding to the threat.
