ABSTRACT

This book examines four conspiracy narratives from Mexico that push the boundaries of conspiracy research in a new direction. They include narratives about Lee Harvey Oswald's visit to Mexico City, shortly before he apparently assassinated JFK, and street gangs across borders and how some of our worst fears are projected into them.

Mexico is a fertile terrain for conspiracy theories due to its complex social environment and its proximity to the United States, which not only made it a strategic platform during the Cold War but also today’s land of bad hombres that according to Donald Trump should be fended off with a wall. Conspiracy theories are always narrative in nature, telling us about the state of the world and the actors behind such states of affairs. This narrativity tends to be so enthralling that they have increasingly become the substance of entertainment and even politics. This volume analyses Mexican conspiracy narratives, explaining how they produce meaning in a variety of different social and political contexts.

This book will be of interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, crime and its representations, Mexican politics and society, and US–Latin American relations.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|24 pages

Conspiracy narratives

Conspiracy theories, rumours and urban legends

chapter 2|21 pages

The context of bad hombres

chapter 3|82 pages

Oswald does the twist

chapter 4|24 pages

Blood gangs and zombie substances

chapter 5|24 pages

Textual analysis

chapter 6|23 pages

Simplification and control

chapter 7|19 pages

Metaphorical and atavistic readings

chapter |8 pages

Conclusion