Modern Conspiracy: The Importance of Being Paranoid

Many things go wrong and seem to be out of our control, though they are the work of human agency. Conspiracy beckons. Jane (media, journalism, communications, Univ. of New South Wales, Australia; Deadset) and Fleming (cultural and social analysis, Univ. of Western Sydney, Australia; René Girard: Violence and Mimesis) note, like Hannah Arendt, that technological power brings profound, unexpected changes. As the authors explain, nobody conspired to bring about climate change, but people did get together to promote the use of fossil fuels. There are also unexplained events. Our proudest technology, even airplanes, can fail or disappear. Despite security, presidents can be assassinated. Conspiracy theorists feed on these events, but the authors also remind us that scheme debunkers have their own epistemological fixation, and both straying from Enlightenment ideology and misuse of it can be fatal and damage minds. Underlying these discussions is a societal critique—our cultures have not given us full control of our own inventions.