Concise introduction to the development of conspiracy theories during the pandemic.
Takes a balanced approach drawing on empirical data and social science research rather than sensationalism.
Seeks to understand rather than just condemn or mock conspiracy theorists.
Clare Birchall is Professor of Contemporary Culture at King's College London, UK. She is the author of Knowledge Goes Pop: From Conspiracy Theory to Gossip, Shareveillance: The Dangers of Openly Sharing and Covertly Collecting Data, and Radical Secrecy: The Ends of Transparency in Datafied America.
Peter Knight is Professor of American Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. He is the author of Conspiracy Culture, The Kennedy Assassination, and Reading the Market, and is co-author of Invested. He is the editor of Conspiracy Nation and Conspiracy Theories in American History, and the co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories.
Title: Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Covid-19
Author:
ISBN: 9781032324999
Binding:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publication Date: 2022-11-04
Number of Pages: 238
Weight: 0.4191 kg
In this timely book, Birchall and Knight provide a much needed and nuanced account of Covid conspiracy theories. Combining both distant and close reading, they show what is new and what isn't, and make a compelling argument that these conspiracy theories are often rooted in legitimate concerns and social anxieties.
Michael Butter, Professor of American Studies, University of Tubingen, Germany
This essential and timely book by two leading scholars simultaneously provides a wonderful synthesis of scholarship on conspiracy theory and an insightful and informed account of the theories surrounding Covid. It's a necessary corrective to simplistic assumptions about popular belief and disbelief and will remain relevant for decades.
Mark Fenster, University of Florida, USA
A careful, nuanced overview of the way conspiracy theories help make-and unmake-the world we share, and how Covid-19 conspiracy theories have seamlessly become part of broader, much older narratives about power and control, freedom and paranoia.
Anna Merlan, Author of Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power
