Complexity and Conspiracies: A Close Reading of "The History of Conspiracy Theory Research" Joshua Tran College

In “The History of Conspiracy Theory Research” from the book, Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, authors Michael Butter and Peter Knight argue that conspiracy theory research has gradually evolved over time due to the contribution of several approaches from different academic disciplines. The first section addresses the origin of conspiracy theory research, which results in Richard Hofstadter’s theorization of conspiracy theories becoming the standard of conspiracy theory research in the following decades. The following three sections focus on several different academic disciplines: social psychology and political science, analytical philosophy, cultural history, and cultural studies. Each of the respective sections recounts the history of that academic discipline’s approach to conspiracy theory research, how individual scholars in that discipline have contributed to the research, and how each discipline approaches conspiracy theory research presently. The result is a complex study of conspiracy theories with many perspectives and difficulty in communication between the different academic fields.

The first section establishes the origin of conspiracy theory research which, according to Katrina Thalmaan, “arose...