Fascist uses of conspiracy theories: alienation, anxiety, and false concreteness in the critical political theory of Franz Neumann

ABSTRACTRecent decades have seen are surgence in the use of conspiracy theories by populist and autocratic political figures. This has sat alongside a renewed interest in using insights from Frankfurt School thinkers to open critical perspectives on fascist uses of conspiracy theories. This paper builds on resurgent interest in the work of Franz Neumann, and directs attention to the political manipulation of alienation and anxiety. Building on Neumann’s insistence that a falsely concrete theory of history is in operation wherever conspiracy theories resonate politically, this paper argues for the neglected centrality of conspiracy thinking in nearly all instances of fascist politics. Conspiracy theories are a structural feature of fascism – a hypothesis that invites empirical testing to see if it might better fit the overall pattern. Neumann’s political critical theory also returns our attention to the possibility of an antifascist critical theory with the political at the centre of its concerns, opening lines of inquiry that complement Adorno’s insights into domination of the administered world and the culture industry.KEYWORDS: Conspiracy theoriesFranz NeumannalienationanxietyfascismFrankfurt school Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 I note the very different valence that Connolly and Rosa give to resonance, without pursuing that here.2 Though the ambit of this paper precludes my pursuit of this further, the decline of the political use of this term is theoretically notable, appearing as it does in major works of Spengler, Gramsci, Weber, and Sorel. A Google N gram search suggests the term peaked in 1873; the work of Poulantz as and Baehr, worth exploring, are outliers.Additional informationNotes on contributorsPeter ChambersPeter Chambers, Pete teaches Global Crime and Critical Criminology at RMIT Melbourne, where he is senior lecturer in Criminology and Justice. Pete's work responds to basic questions about the worlds we live in now, sits within traditions of critical and social theory, and emphasises the importance of norms and values, especially conflicting visions of justice and the good society. It asks: how are we to live our lives, together, somehow, now? In the 2010s, his scholarly work focused on the emergence of border security, as well as sovereignty, securitization, offshore, disruption, and logistics. His work in the 2020s returns to and builds on insights from classical sociology and the first generation of critical theory: in critical and theoretical criminology this is about rackets and racketeering; in broader fields of interest, it focuses on circulation, logistics, capitalism, control, and conspiracies, as well as the social and subjective formations that emerge in response to the shock, anxiety, and loneliness that marks our lives.