Truthers, birthers, flat-Earthers, the deep state, crisis actors, chemtrails, the Epstein files, Pizzagate, the Plandemic 鈥� it seems as though there鈥檚 a conspiracy theory for every situation. But what exactly is a conspiracy theory? And why is the term used to describe beliefs that are so unlike theories (at least in the scientific sense of the word)?
Join Andrew McKenzie-McHarg as he traces the origins of conspiracy theorising from Machiavelli and Savonarola through the French Revolution, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the Nuremberg Trials, to Richard Hofstadter鈥檚 鈥減aranoid style鈥� and today鈥檚 QAnon - offering a new perspective on the origins and evolution of one of the defining鈥攁nd most troubling鈥攆eatures of modern political culture.
Andrew will be 鈥�In Conversation鈥� with journalist Rafael Behr.
AUTHOR BIO
Andrew McKenzie- McHarg is a researcher and historian at the Bibliotheca Hertziana鈥揗ax Planck Institute for Art History in Rome. His work explores the history of conspiratorial thinking and the development of the concept of 鈥渃onspiracy theory鈥�, with a particular interest in how early modern political and religious ideas around heresy, secrecy and conspiracy evolved into modern forms of conspiratorial thought.
He was previously a research fellow at the Forschungszentrum Gotha, University of Erfurt, and then on the Conspiracy and Democracy Project at the University of Cambridge.
CHAIR BIO
Rafael Behr is a political columnist for the Guardian. He is a former Political Editor for the New Statesman, Chief Leader Writer and Online Editor for The Observer, a business news reporter for BBC online and a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times, based in the Baltic region and Russia.
BOOK SIGNING
Andrew will also be signing copies of his new book The Hidden History of Conspiracy Theory, published by 快色直播, which will be available to purchase on the night.
This event will take place downstairs in The Tusk Room at The Walrus Pub, Ship St, Brighton. There is a licensed bar, but unfortunately there is no wheelchair access available at this venue.
- DOORS OPEN : 19:00
- TALK STARTS : 19:30
- AUDIENCE Q&A : 20:30