Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability by Jaron Harambam (review)

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Reviewed by:

• Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability by Jaron Harambam
• Elżbieta Drążkiewicz (bio)

contemporary conspiracy culture: truth and knowledge in an era of epistemic instability
Jaron Harambam
Routledge
https://www.routledge.com/Contemporary-Conspiracy-Culture-Truth-and-Knowledge-in-an-Era-of-Epistemic/Harambam/p/book/9781032172668
256 pages; Print, $43.99

In July 2021, President Joe Biden stated that by hindering immunization campaigns individuals and social media spreading disinformation were "killing people." To address these and other similar concerns about the ways in which conspiracy theories have been weaponized not only in the United States but also in other parts of the Western world, a strong body of literature has been published in the last few years.

Much of this scholarship follows in the footsteps of Theodor W. Adorno and Karl Popper, who studied the topic because they were concerned that conspiracy theories were dangerous for democracy and for the peaceful coexistence of societies. An even more important scholar in the American context is Richard Hofstadter, who coined the term "paranoid style" as a pejorative designation to reflect his positionality on the issue. As a result of those influences, as well as a current concern for the future of liberal democracy, much of the literature on conspiracy theory was and still is dominated by a pathologizing approach.

But there are authors who dare to take a different angle. Among them is Jaron Harambam, whose Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability is not prompted by the need for moral judgment but rather by anthropological curiosity, a need to understand the world of Dutch conspiracists. As Harambam emphasizes, his goal was not to condemn or discard people who engage with conspiracy theories but rather to learn what such alternative forms of knowledge mean for the people who endorse them.

Like many scholars, Harambam started his research by exploring popular websites and social media channels. Yet unlike others, he did not just harvest [End Page 45] the digital space; he also immersed himself in the Dutch conspiratorial milieu. To better understand the world of people who engage in conspiracy theories concerning finance, media corporatism, science, government, and the supernatural sphere, he attended their events, met them at their homes, read the books they read, watched movies they recommended, and conducted in-depth interviews. This methodology not only allowed him to approach people propagating conspiracist views with compassion but also gave him the opportunity to learn about the social, political, and cultural contexts in which they live, the communities they create.

Harambam focuses on the Netherlands in the early 2010s. As he notes, this might be a surprising choice, as the Netherlands is usually associated with high levels of trust in the government, with academics and science enjoying high respectability. It consistently scores high in international free media rankings. Dutch society does not have a reputation of being highly divided; instead it is famous for its liberalism, and it enjoys economic stability. These characteristics are what made me so interested in the book. Most studies suggest that conditions such as those exhibited in the Netherlands work against conspiracy theories. If that is the case, if conspiracy theories are—as some would suggest—nothing more than "bad science" performed by the uneducated who believe in "paranoid politics," or by people living in divided societies and exposed to some dramatic changes, why would people in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, or The Hague engage with conspiracy theories?

Harambam's compelling argument is that conspiracy culture can be understood as a coping mechanism for dealing with a more general crisis of the legitimacy of modern liberal democracies and their institutions. Disillusionment with mainstream media leads to the establishment of new, "alternative" media outlets. The increasing formalization and detachment of state bureaucracy not only triggers theories about its "hidden" nature but also leads to a search for alternatives that would rescue modern institutions from their own degeneration. Importantly, Harambam shows that the search for hidden truths is not just a cognitive or intellectual exercise but also a highly emotional enterprise. He emphasizes that while ideological and political motivations matter, engagement with conspiracy theories is also...