Conspiracy and Power

Conspiracy theories are neither delusions nor lies, neither simplistic fallacies nor psychological quirks: rather, they are a political problem. They are not so much about truth as about power. Rather than seeking to debunk conspiracy theories as the work of fringe groups and cranks, Donatella Di Cesare develops an original account that portrays conspiracy as the spectre of a shattered community.

With the proliferation of conspiracy theories, the distrust of politics and politicians turns into a boundless and pervasive suspicion. Who is behind the scenes? Who is pulling the strings? The world, which seems increasingly confusing and impossible to read, must have a hidden side, a secret realm, that of the Deep State and the New World Order, where plans are hatched, information is gathered and thoughts are controlled. It is no longer a matter of a one-off plot or intrigue. Conspiracy is the very form in which citizens who feel condemned to a frustrating impotence, helpless before a techno-economic juggernaut, and manipulated by a faceless power relate to the world. This is why conspiracy, which exposes the emptiness of democracy, proves to be a fearsome weapon of mass depoliticisation.

Who pulls the strings? In the depths of intrigue

Politics and its shadow-realm

The unreadability of the world

Enigmas and misunderstandings

The workings of the plot

Democracy and power

The cause of all our ills

Hungry for myths

The Prague cemetery: the backdrop to the plot

Spokesmen for the deceived

Sovereign ressentiment

The New World Order

The “Great Replacement” and the QAnon patriots

The extreme taste for the apocalypse. Hidden enemies

Populism and the plot

Victimhood and political powerlessness

On the “heresy” of believers in plots: a critique of Umberto Eco

Transparency and secrecy. In the press

In praise of suspicion

Beyond anti-conspiracism



Notes ‘Conspiracism, according to Donatella Di Cesare, is a political problem that has more to do with power than truth. This short book is packed with this and other valuable insights about a modern malaise with a long history.’
Quassim Cassam, University of Warwick

‘An essential vade mecum for the descent into Wonderland that has become the daily fate of a connected citizen. Di Cesare anatomises the complex scenarios of malevolent forces, plots and secrets that thrive in the margins of media democracies and discovers they are less cause than consequence of the closing of contemporary public space.’
Howard Caygill, Goldsmiths, University of London