当代阴谋文化:认识论不稳定时代的真理与知识》,Jaron Harambam 著(评论)

IF 0.1 4区 文学 0 LITERATURE AMERICAN BOOK REVIEW Pub Date : 2024-06-12 DOI:10.1353/abr.2024.a929662
Elżbieta Drążkiewicz
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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.</p> <p>Like many scholars, Harambam started his research by exploring popular websites and social media channels. Yet unlike others, he did not just harvest <strong>[End Page 45]</strong> 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. 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引用次数: 0

摘要

以下是内容的简要摘录,以代替摘要:评论者: 当代阴谋文化:当代阴谋文化:认识论不稳定时代的真理与知识》,作者:Jaron Harambam Elżbieta Drążkiewicz (bio) 当代阴谋文化:认识论不稳定时代的真理与知识》,作者:Jaron Harambam Routledge https://www.routledge.com/Contemporary-Conspiracy-Culture-Truth-and-Knowledge-in-an-Era-of-Epistemic/Harambam/p/book/9781032172668 256 页;印刷版,43.99 美元 2021 年 7 月,美国总统乔-拜登表示,个人和社交媒体散布虚假信息阻碍了免疫接种活动,是在 "杀人"。为了解决这些问题以及其他类似问题,即阴谋论不仅在美国,而且在西方世界其他地区被武器化的方式,过去几年出版了大量文献。这些学术研究大多追随西奥多-W-阿多诺和卡尔-波普尔的脚步,他们研究这一主题是因为他们担心阴谋论对民主和社会的和平共处构成危险。在美国,理查德-霍夫斯塔德(Richard Hofstadter)是一位更为重要的学者,他创造了 "偏执狂风格 "这一贬义词,以反映他在这一问题上的立场。由于这些影响,以及当前对自由民主未来的担忧,许多关于阴谋论的文献过去和现在都是以病态化的方法为主。不过,也有一些作者敢于从不同的角度出发。其中就有贾龙-哈兰巴姆(Jaron Harambam),他的《当代阴谋文化》(Contemporary Conspiracy Culture:该书并非出于道德评判的需要,而是出于人类学的好奇心,即了解荷兰阴谋论者世界的需要。正如哈兰巴姆所强调的,他的目标不是谴责或抛弃那些参与阴谋论的人,而是要了解这种另类的知识形式对赞同它们的人意味着什么。与许多学者一样,哈兰巴姆的研究也是从探索流行网站和社交媒体渠道开始的。然而,与其他人不同的是,他不只是收获 [第 45 页结束] 数字空间,他还沉浸在荷兰的阴谋论环境中。为了更好地了解那些从事金融、媒体公司化、科学、政府和超自然领域阴谋论研究的人的世界,他参加了他们的活动,在他们家中与他们会面,阅读他们阅读的书籍,观看他们推荐的电影,并进行了深入访谈。这种方法不仅让他能够以同情的态度接近那些宣传阴谋论观点的人,还让他有机会了解他们生活的社会、政治和文化背景,以及他们创造的社区。哈兰巴姆关注的是 2010 年代初的荷兰。正如他所指出的,这可能是一个令人惊讶的选择,因为荷兰通常与对政府的高度信任联系在一起,学术界和科学界享有很高的声誉。荷兰在国际自由媒体排名中一直名列前茅。荷兰社会并没有高度分裂的名声;相反,它以自由主义著称,经济稳定。这些特点让我对这本书产生了浓厚的兴趣。大多数研究表明,像荷兰这样的条件不利于阴谋论的产生。如果是这样的话,如果阴谋论--就像有些人所说的那样--只不过是那些相信 "偏执政治 "的未受过教育的人或生活在分裂社会中的人所做的 "糟糕的科学",或者是生活在一些剧烈变化中的人所做的 "糟糕的科学",那么阿姆斯特丹、鹿特丹或海牙的人们为什么会参与阴谋论呢?哈兰巴姆令人信服的论点是,阴谋论文化可以被理解为一种应对机制,用来处理现代自由民主国家及其制度的合法性所面临的更为普遍的危机。对主流媒体的幻灭导致了新的 "另类 "媒体渠道的建立。国家官僚机构的日益正规化和疏离化不仅引发了关于其 "隐蔽 "性质的理论,还导致人们寻找替代方案,以挽救现代机构自身的堕落。重要的是,哈兰巴姆表明,对隐藏真理的探寻不仅是一种认知或智力活动,也是一种高度感性的事业。他强调,虽然意识形态和政治动机很重要,但参与阴谋论也是...
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Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability by Jaron Harambam (review)
In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

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...

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AMERICAN BOOK REVIEW LITERATURE-
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