Witnessing Conspiracy Theories: Developing an Intersectional Approach to Conspiracy Theory Research
Abstract
This dissertation proposes an intersectional approach to conspiracy theory research that engages conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists by considering their proximity and affiliations with hegemonic power structures. Against challenges to conspiracy theories based on their lack of empirical legitimacy (Rosenblum and Muirhead 2019) and building on arguments that propound their status as “subjugated knowledges” (Bratich 2008), this dissertation argues that conspiracy theories can be vectors of anti-oppressive resistance against systemic forces that disenfranchise racial, gender, and class minorities. Conspiracy theories are not a homogenous phenomenon; they are particular instances of potentially generative suspicion against powerful forces. The dissertation deploys Kelly Oliver’s (2001) concept of “witnessing,” a form of listening that accepts that there are some truths that are not universally knowable to everyone and works to support the experiences of the person testifying, as a method for discerning the specificities of conspiracy theories. It performs a case study of conspiracy theories in the rap music of Immortal Technique, KRS-One, and Lauryn Hill to highlight how conspiracy theories can be heuristic tools to identify and make tangible otherwise systemic, and therefore often opaque, forms of oppression. An intersectional approach to conspiracy theory research is necessary to distinguish conspiracy theories that intensify and contribute to oppressive structures from those that call attention to and challenge those same structures.