ABSTRACT

Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories contributes to the study of conspiracy culture by analysing the religious and esoteric dimensions of conspiracy theories.

The book examines both historical and contemporary examples to explore transnational and transhistorical continuities between religious doctrines, eschatologies, and conspiracy theories. It draws on a broad range of disciplinary insights from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars. The book has a global focus and features case studies from North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, esotericism, extremism, and religion

chapter 1|11 pages

Introduction

Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories

part I|91 pages

Reading History with New (Conspiracist) Lenses

chapter 2|16 pages

The Bacchanalian Conspiracy

From the Paranoid Style to Conspirituality

chapter 3|26 pages

Magic, Money, Ink, and Blood

Mediating the Social Body in the Case of Simon of Trent

chapter 4|27 pages

Anti-Masonic Conspiracy Theories and Universal Religion

From the French Revolution to the New World Order

chapter 5|20 pages

Conceptualising Secret Societies and Conspiracy Theories in Imperial Japan

From Countering Socialism to Rescuing Jewish Refugees

part II|175 pages

Connecting New Phenomena with Old Trends

chapter 7|18 pages

‘Going to the Ends of the Earth to Unmask Conspiracy’

Radical Skepticism in the Modern Gnostic Narratives of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum

chapter 8|23 pages

‘Toxic Positivity’

From New Thought to Donald Trump

chapter 9|20 pages

Conspiracy Theory, Altered States, and Alternative Community

Conspiracy Beliefs in a Sample of Nordic Yoga-Practitioners

chapter 10|17 pages

Conspiracy Theories in Africa

A Continuum of Narratives about Evil Agents

chapter 11|16 pages

When Conspiracy Meets Faith

Making Sense of Tragic Events in Bucharest, Romania

chapter 12|18 pages

Jesuit Fathers, Maronites, Muslim ʿUlamāʾ, and Islamists

The Role of Religious Institutions and Organisations in the Spread of the Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy Myth in the Middle East

chapter 13|21 pages

The Eurasia Network

Riding the Conspiracist Tiger in Contemporary Italy

chapter 14|23 pages

Qvangelicalism

QAnon as a Hyper-Real Religion