PACT: Populism and Conspiracy Theory

An edited volume based on our first two conferences is out now. You can download the PDF here: routledge.com/Populism-and-C…. The print version will be out on July 4.

Our keynote speakers are @AnastasiyaAst16, @ElaDra, @peter_g_knight, @SRadnitz and @PaulAdamTaggart. Here's our CfP. Please share it widely and consider submitting a proposal.

PI Michael Butter traveled to picturesque Trier today to discuss conspiracy theories with judged and state attorneys at the German Academy of Judges as part of a workshop on political extremism.

Our twin project @REDACTCHANSE_DE, @REDACTCHANSE is hiring a postdoc for a two-year ethnographic study on fact-checking organizations and those working to counter conspiracy theories. Spread the word or apply yourself.

The final panel of the conference: Chaired by @peter_g_knight, Massimo Leone, Gustavo Lamounier und @_smherrmann present new theoretical perspectives on populism and conspiracy theory.

Now @maren_schafer discusses Trump's populist framing of the pandemic and @_elka_elka mimesis and mimicry in conspiracist NGOs in Poland and Ireland

Yesterday ended with a fantastic keynote by @mfenster21, discussing what lessons to draw from Richard Hofstadter's problematic presentism in his essay on the paranoid style for our current research.

Right now, Holger Mölder, @EirikurBergmann and Franciszek Czech are discussing the weaponization of conspiracy theories in populist discourse with a focus on populist leaders and social media.

On the panel on populist political communication, Thomas Stelzl, Andrew Woods and @azeriartiko are presenting on Die Linke, Cultural Marxism and YouTube influencers.

Chaired by Annika Rabo, Claus Oberhauser, @peter_g_knight and @_elka_elka discuss interdisciplinary perspectives on populism and conspiracy theory, focusing on future avenues for research.