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Conspiracy theories are not just outlandish ideas. They can also be political weapons. Conspiracy theories have come to play an increasingly prominent role in political systems around the world. In Revealing Schemes, Scott Radnitz moves beyond psychological explanations for why people believe conspiracy theories to explore the politics surrounding them, placing two questions at the center of his account: What leads
regimes to promote conspiracy claims? And what effects do those claims have on politics and society? Focusing on the former Soviet UnionDLa region of the world where such theories have long thrivedDLhe shows that incumbent
politicians tend to make conspiracy claims to demonstrate their knowledge and authority at moments of uncertainty and threat. They emerge more often where there is serious political competition rather than unbridled autocracy and in response to events that challenge a regime's ability to rule. Yet conspiracy theories can also be habit-forming and persist as part of an official narrative even where immediate threats have subsidedDLa strategy intended to strengthen regimes, but that may
inadvertently undermine them. Revealing Schemes explores the causes, consequences, and contradictions of conspiracism in politics with an original collection of over 1,500 conspiracy claims from across the
post-Soviet region, two national surveys, and 12 focus groups. At a time of heightened distrust in democratic institutions and rising illiberal populism around the world, understanding how conspiracy theories operate in a region where democracy came lateDLor never arrivedDLcan be instructive for concerned citizens everywhere.
Conspiracy theories are not just outlandish ideas. They can also be political weapons. Conspiracy theories have come to play an increasingly prominent role in political systems around the world. In Revealing Schemes, Scott Radnitz moves beyond psychological explanations for why people believe conspiracy theories to explore the politics surrounding them, placing two questions at the center of his account: What leads
regimes to promote conspiracy claims? And what effects do those claims have on politics and society? Focusing on the former Soviet UnionDLa region of the world where such theories have long thrivedDLhe shows that incumbent
politicians tend to make conspiracy claims to demonstrate their knowledge and authority at moments of uncertainty and threat. They emerge more often where there is serious political competition rather than unbridled autocracy and in response to events that challenge a regime's ability to rule. Yet conspiracy theories can also be habit-forming and persist as part of an official narrative even where immediate threats have subsidedDLa strategy intended to strengthen regimes, but that may
inadvertently undermine them. Revealing Schemes explores the causes, consequences, and contradictions of conspiracism in politics with an original collection of over 1,500 conspiracy claims from across the
post-Soviet region, two national surveys, and 12 focus groups. At a time of heightened distrust in democratic institutions and rising illiberal populism around the world, understanding how conspiracy theories operate in a region where democracy came lateDLor never arrivedDLcan be instructive for concerned citizens everywhere.
Introduction: Conspiracy Claims after Communism
Chapter 1: Of Power and Peril: Conspiracy Claims as Fighting
Words
Chapter 2: Traumas and Tyranny? The Long-term and Proximate Roots
of Conspiracism
Chapter 3: The Lay of the Land: What 20 Years of Post-Soviet
Conspiracy Claims Tells Us
Chapter 4: Connecting the Dots: Patterns of Conspiracism in
Post-Soviet Politics
Chapter 5: The Emergence and Ascendancy of Conspiracism in
Russia
Chapter 6: Shadowy Deeds in Russia's Shadow: Conspiracy Claims in
Four Countries
Chapter 7: The Consequences of Conspiracism: What People Believe
and Why
Chapter 8: Citizen Cynics: How People Talk and Think about
Conspiracy
Chapter 9: Disaffection, Disinformation, and Democracy
Appendix
Scott Radnitz is the Herbert J. Ellison Associate Professor of
Russian and Eurasian Studies in the Jackson School of International
Studies at the University of Washington. He is the author of
Weapons of the Wealthy: Predatory Regimes and Elite-Led Protests in
Central Asia. He is also an associate editor of Communist and
Post-Communist Studies and a member of the Program on New
Approaches to Research and Security (PONARS) in
Eurasia.
Revealing Schemes is an original and refreshing contribution to the
study of conspiratorial politics in non-Western context, one that
advances our understanding of the phenomenon in regional settings
and represents an excellent read for specialists and students
alike.
*Kiril Avramov, The Russian Review*
Radnitz's book adds much to the literature, and it deserves being
read widely.
*Michael Gentile, University of Oslo, Eurasian Geography and
Economics*
Under what circumstances do authoritarian regimes, and their
opponents, use conspiracy theories as rhetorical weapons in
political struggles? Nowhere is this question more apposite than in
post-Soviet space. Radnitz brings a unique database and survey
results to the fight over conspiracy theories in Russia, Ukraine
and Central Asia. The result is a clear and comprehensive win for
social science.
*Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech*
Radnitz takes on one of the most perplexing political phenomena of
our time: the use of conspiracy theories by those in power. He
shows why and how leaders in post-Soviet countries use conspiracy
theories to build coalitions, control information flows, and
maintain power. This is an essential read for anyone interested in
post-Soviet politics or contemporary conspiracy theories.
*Joseph E. Uscinski, University of Miami*
Radnitz's book is as useful as it is topical. It provides a
competent analysis of the anatomy of conspiracism and the
conditions under which it thrives, and it makes an important
contribution to the analysis of how shadowy regimes try to
legitimize their rule and sometimes, but not always, get away with
it.
*Bo Petersson, Slavonic and East European Review *
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