About this Research Topic

Background

Over the past few years, we have witnessed a growing crisis in the public sphere, a crisis of information. Despite having unprecedented access to online information, more people than ever before are succumbing to mis- and disinformation, political radicalization, and unhinged conspiracy theories. Richard Hofstadter has described this phenomenon as the 'paranoid style' of American political life, and such radicalization has permeated all aspects of the public sphere, from online commentators to the halls of government. Conspiracies about election fraud, COVID-19 vaccines, economic and political power, and racial replacement have dominated public discourse, fueled by political extremism and far-right radicalization. Understanding the public impacts of such paranoid fantasies is an important arena for humanities and social science researchers and may have real impacts on the very foundations of democracy.

This Research Topic will address the rising paranoia within the public sphere. Because of the unique fusion of social media platforms and increasing political extremism on the right, we have seen an exponential rise in conspiracy theories, paranoid, violent fantasies, and mobilized political extremism. This Research Topic will map the contours of these paranoid global publics, assessing the specific dynamics which have fueled this conspiratorial period. The range of articles accepted to the Topic will address various nuances of this problem within the overarching theoretical framework of the public sphere. Recent scholarship on this area has tackled a wide variety of topics, including analysis of large datasets of tweets and posts on social media, the spread of conspiracy theories online to various other communities, the use of graphics and maps to attract new followers, and the gamification of conspiracy theories. With all this contemporary research into the origins and spread of conspiracy theories, we have yet to see dedicated research to assess the public impact of such conspiracies, but the public sphere is the staging ground for such conspiracies and often ends up experiencing the fallout. The online public sphere has been completely permeated by conspiracy theories, while the offline public sphere is witness to shocking eruptions of paranoid violence. Understanding the impacts of such conspiratorial movements will be essential for finding ways to intervene.

Confronting the persistent information challenges within the public sphere is of utmost importance. This article collection will provide a multidisciplinary approach to various aspects of conspiracy theories, assessing their impact on broader publics. For this Research Topic we want to gather a broad range of full articles, which address various significant aspects of the conspiratorial age in which we live. We are also interested in a range of methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative analysis. Articles should provide clear methodological justifications and describe the particular sources of information which they analyze. We are also interested in articles from both the social sciences and humanities, which address aspects of 'the conspiracy age.'

Contributors can consider the following themes as a guide in preparing submissions:

• the organization and mobilization of extremist political movements such as Patriot Front, the Proud Boys, Christian Identity, and others
• the global spread of conspiracy theories such as QAnon, the Great Replacement, and the Great Reset, among others
• the role of social media in organizing and spreading conspiracy theories
• visual modes of communication applied in conspiracy theories such as the Great Awakening Map
• rhetorical aspects of conspiracy theories
• the rise of mainstream political figures advocating conspiracies
• data and information used to promulgate conspiracy theories
• the presence of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other oppressive ideologies within conspiracy theories
• the spread of conspiracy theories into non-conspiracy spaces online such as New Age influencer communities, churches, and NGOs
• conspiracy theories represented in cultural narratives and their impact on society (literature, film, television).

Image credit: Markus Winkler

Keywords: conspiracy theories, media studies, information studies, internet studies, political extremism, QAnon, the Great Reset, the Great Replacement

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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