PodcastThe Political Power of Conspiracy Theories
Here’s what he said:
In a world of crises, there’s a greater demand for explanations, for answers. Answers that transcend what you hear in the main evening news every day.
One of the constituent elements of a conspiracy theory is that they try to engage in pseudo-evidence and in pseudo-scientific explanations.
People who are very strongly interested in or attracted to radical populist parties are also attracted to conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories are so effective and used by political agents or political actors, because any attempt to counteract them makes you part of the conspiracy.
There’s a lot we can do on the communication level, and of course we have to check and monitor narratives, and we have to counteract them immediately.
Conspiracy theories have their own cycle, their own nature. They’re like a novel, like a movie. They’re very dramaturgic. They always need new material […] Very often they tend to run out of steam after a while.
