ABSTRACT
This chapter examines data collected in May and June 2013. It provides a brief introduction to conspiracies and conspiracy theories from a theoretical perspective. In the tradition emanating from Popper and Hofstadter, it has long been common in academia to stress the irrational, ‘flawed character’ or ‘crippled epistemology’ of conspiracy theories against the standard of modern, objective and rational science. Researchers share the out-growers’ desire for knowledge and to uncover the truth, as it is a fundamental task of science and research to put knowledge into the public domain. The chapter focuses on data collected in May and June 2013. As part of an research project on the contract farming of sugarcane in Tanzania, a total of 40 out-growers were interviewed about their experiences with contract farming. A sugarcane plant is made up of approximately 80 per cent stalks, from which juice is extracted and crystallised into sugar, and 20 per cent leafy material with no value for sugar production.
