CONSPIRACY THEORIES

POLITICS 295B: MW (BCD)

HUNTLEY 230
PROFESSOR ZARAKOL
zarakola@wlu.edu
Office Hours: MW (EF)
HUNTLEY 109

Course Description

What distinguishes a good political explanation from a bad one? How do we assess information and evidence?
What is the difference between knowledge and opinion? This course will teach students about standards of social science
inquiry by examining various conspiracy theories from popular culture. Conspiracy theories are interesting phenomena
because their presentation often mimics genuine social scientific study. In an age where internet has made conspiracy
theories even more popular than before, it is extremely important to understand why such theories fall short of social
science standards. This course will combine texts on the sociology of knowledge with popular readings and media about
conspiracy theories.
DISCLAIMER: Some of the material we will read and view in this course contains potentially offensive and/or adult content.
Course Requirements
1.

Attendance and Participation 10%

2. Reaction Papers: You are required to turn in a reaction paper at the end of each week (2-3 pages) 40%
a. The reaction paper should reflect upon that weeks readings, visual material and discussions (you do not
have to comment on everything we have covered you can pick and choose subjects which interest you the
most).
b. The papers should be placed in the Sakai drop box each Friday by 5 pm.(No paper is required for Week 6)
c. Late papers will lose 1 point (out of 8) every two hours they are late.
3. Quizzes: Every week you will be quizzed on that weeks readings, visual material and discussions 30%
4. Presentations: By the end of week two, each student will pick a conspiracy theory to present on. 20%
a. You will meet with me during Week 2 to discuss your topic. 5%
b. Your presentation should focus on both the conspiracy and the normal account of the event you are
focusing on. You will be evaluated both on how well you reconstruct these accounts and on how well you
engage your audience. The presentation should not exceed 10 minutes. 15%
Required Readings

All of the required readings for this course are available on Sakai, unless otherwise indicated. Plan ahead.

Hour

Course Plan

Introduction

Monday,
April 20

Week Day

II - W

Zeitgeist, the Movie

III - W
I

Why do we study conspiracy theories?

1. Brian L. Keeley, Of Conspiracy Theories, The Journal of Philosophy, 96.3 (Mar., 1999), pp. 109 - 126

Wednesday,
April 22

Read:

2. Steve Clarke, Conspiracy Theories and Conspiracy Theorizing, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 32.2 (June
2002), pp. 131-150. READ pp. 143-148 ONLY.

II

Conspiracy Theories and American Politics

Read:

3. Richard Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics, Harpers Magazine, November 1964, pp.
7786.

III

Why do people believe in conspiracies?

4. Ted Goertzel, Belief in Conspiracy Theories, Political Psychology, 15. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 731-741
Read:

5. Marina Abalakina-Paap, Walter G. Stephan, Traci Craig, W. Larry Gregory, Beliefs in Conspiracies,
Political Psychology, 20. 3 (Sep., 1999), pp. 637-646

Hour

Course Plan

Presidential Assassinations

Read:

6. Lisa D. Butler, Cheryl Koopman, Philip G. Zimbardo, The Psychological Impact of Viewing the Film JFK:
Emotions, Beliefs, and Political Behavioral Intentions, Political Psychology, 16. 2 (Jun., 1995), pp. 237-257

Monday,
April 27

Week Day

II W
III W JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
I-W
II

Wednesday,
April 29

Read:
III

Discussion of the movie; Fears about Obama

7. In Painful Past, Hushed Worry About Obama, The New York Times (February 25, 2008), pp. 1-3.
8. Clinton-Obama Quandary for Many Black Women, The New York Times (October 14, 2007), pp. 1-4.
Conspiracy Theories and African-American Communities
9. Anita M. Waters, Conspiracy Theories as Ethnosociologies: Explanation and Intention in African American
Political Culture, Journal of Black Studies, 28. 1 (Sep., 1997), pp. 112-124.

Read:

10. Jennifer Crocker, Riia Luhtanen, Stephanie Boradnax and Bruce Evan Blaine, Belief in U.S, Government
Conspiracies Against blacks Among Black and White College Students: Powerlessness or System Blame?,
PSPB, 25.8 (Aug. 1999), pp. 941-52.
11. Sharon Parsons, William Simmons, Frank Shinhoster and John Kilburn, A Test of the Grapevine: An
Empirical Examination of Conspiracy Theories among African Americans, Sociological Spectrum, 19 (1999), pp.
201-218.
3

Hour

Course Plan

Is relying on past experience smart or paranoid?

Read:

12. Jane Lawrence, The Indian Health Service and the Sterilization of Native American Women, The American
Indian Quarterly, 24.3 (2000), pp. 400-415.

II

The Tuskegee Study and HIV

Monday,
May 4

Week Day

Read:

13. Stephen B. Thomas, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV Education and AIDS
Risk Education Programs in the Black Community, American Journal of Public Health, 81.11 (Nov. 1991), pp.
1498 -1504.

Wednesday,
May 6

14. Michael W. Ross, E. James Essien and Isabel Torres, Conspiracy Beliefs about the Origin of HIV/AIDS in
Four Racial/Ethnic Groups, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 41.3 (Mar. 2006), pp. 342-344.
III

Disease as Conspiracy

Read:

15. Samantha Power, THE AIDS REBEL(South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat), The New Yorker,
(May 19, 2003), pp. 1-4. Reproduced at: http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/stateofdenial/special_rebel.html

IW
II W

The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)

III

Discussion of the movie; Africa & drug companies; Fears about corporations

Read:

16. Nigerians suing Pfizer over youths maladies, Washington Times (Aug. 23, 2007)
Access at: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2007/aug/23/nigerians-suing-pfizer32over-youths-maladies/print/
16.1. Also see Newsweeks NGai Croal on the Resident Evil 5 Trailer: This Imagery Has a History, MTV
Multiplayer, http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/04/10/newsweeks-ngai-croal-on-the-resident-evil-5-trailer-thisimagery-has-a-history/
17. Mike Mueller, The baby killer, A War on Want Publication (March 1974)
17.1 Also check out the timeline at: http://www.babymilkaction.org/pages/history.html

Hour

Course Plan

Conspiracies about globalization

Read:

18. Alasdair Spark, Conjuring order: the new world order and conspiracy theories of globalization, in The Age
of Anxiety: Conspiracy Theory and the Human Sciences, edited by Jane Parish and Martin Parker (Malden,
MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2001), pp. 46-61.

II

Secret societies, past and present

Read:

19. Dwight C. Smith, Jr., Mafia: The Prototypical Alien Conspiracy, Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science, 423 (Jan., 1976), pp. 75-88.

II - W

South Park: Fantastic Easter Special, Season 11, Episode 5 (Trey Parker and Matt Stone, 2007)

III

Financial conspiracies, populism & anti-Semitism

Read:

20. Richard Hofstadter, The Age of Reform: From Bryan to F.D.R. (NY: Vintage Books, 1955), pp. 74-89.

Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories: Why are they so prevalent?

Read:

21. David Norman Smith, The Social Construction of Enemies: Jews and the Representation of Evil,
Sociological Theory, Vol. 14, No. 3 (Nov., 1996), pp. 203 234.

II

War and Conspiracy Theorizing

Wednesday,
May 13

Monday,
May 11

Week Day

Read:

III
Read:

22. Jovan Byford and Michael Billig, The emergence of Antisemitic conspiracy theories in Yugoslavia during the
war with NATO, Sociologija, 47.4 (2005), pp. 308 319.
23. Paul A. Silverstein, An Excess of Truth: Violence, Conspiracy Theorizing and the Algerian Civil War,
Anthropological Quarterly, 75. 4 (Autumn 2002), pp. 643-66.
Conspiracy Theories in the Middle East
24. Marvin Zonis and Craig M. Joseph, Conspiracy Thinking in the Middle East, Political Psychology, 15.3
(Sep. 1994), pp. 443-58.
25. Daniel Pipes, Dealing with Middle Eastern Conspiracy Theories, Orbis (1992), pp. 1 -16.

Week Day

Hour

Course Plan

9/11 Conspiracies
26. Nancy Jo Sales, Click Here for Conspiracy, Vanity Fair (August 2006), pp. 1-6

Wednesday,
May 20

Monday,
May 18

Read:

27. Peter Knight, Conspiracy Theories about 9/11, Center for International Politics Working Paper Series, No.
34 (August 2007), pp. 2-19

II -W
III - W

Loose Change, 2nd Edition Recut (Dylan Avery, 2006)

III

Discussion of Loose Change and other 9/11 Conspiracy Theories

Read:

28. The Editors, Debunking the 9/11 Myths: Special Report, Popular Mechanics (March 2005)
Access at: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military_law/1227842.html

Theorizing Conspiracy Theories

Read:

29. Ray Pratt, Review: Theorizing Conspiracy, Theory and Society 32. 2 (Apr. 2003), pp. 255-69

II

Standards of Evaluation & A Counterview

Read:

III

30. Karl R. Popper, The Conspiracy Theory of Society, in Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate,
edited by David Coady (Burlington, VT: Ashgate 2006), pp. 13-15
31. Charles Pigden, Popper Revisited, or What is Wrong with Conspiracy Theories, Philosophy of the Social
Sciences, 25.1 (Mar., 1995), pp. 3-30
Practical Arguments
32. Lee Basham, Malevolent Global Conspiracy, Journal of Social Philosophy, 34.1 (Spring 2003), 91 -102

Read:

33. Brian L. Keeley, Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition! More Thoughts on Conspiracy Theory, in
Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate, edited by David Coady (Burlington, VT: Ashgate 2006), pp.
107-112
6

Monday,
May 25

Week Day
6

Hour

Course Plan

I
II

Student Presentations

III

Wednesday,
May 27

I
II
III

Student Presentations

Concluding Remarks