Customer Reviews

A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Call this a review of reviews:

One star is not so much a review rating as a vote; people on Amazon who give one star to books are generally saying "I don't like what this book is telling me!!!" When I see a pile of one star (and very brief text) reviews I know the jig is up, the author has struck a nerve.

The essential argument of the one-star reviewers is that Barkun, by questioning conspiratorial thinking is, of course, part of the conspiracy. I believe one "reviewer" calls him a shill of the power elite or something like that. These reviews should be incorporated into the next edition of this OK book as they give Prof. Barkun's arguments added weight.

By the way, the CIA paid me big bucks to write this favorable review of a key work of New World Order propaganda.

A solid, well researched book that covers a wide rage of subjects. This book is extensive. Shows how and why conspiracy ideas and conspiracy sub-culture is the way it is. Contains some of the best writing ever on these subjects. Shows how many of these ideas have developed and how weak they really are. The reaction of conspiracy minded people to this book and its ideas on their beliefs is no surprise. Some people don't like to have a mirror held up to them and see what their beliefs are really founded upon and how their thought process really work. An essential book for a time period that has become more paranoid than ever. Don't be fooled by some of the bad, cranky reviews here. Its a great book with a lot of thought poured into it and it proves it self time and again in the very writings and methods of conspiracy sub-culture.

I had expected this book to be a general review of developments in contemporary American conspiracy theory, a sort of summary of the ever-evolving worlds of the true American religion. While Barkun offers a relatively competent effort in that respect, his true interest in this book is to link the emergent threads of conspiracy theory to pre-existing political sources, particularly right-wing sources that fall within his pet interest, millenial right-wing religious groups in the United States. While there are plainly some quite interesting connections between the two social phenomena, Barkun goes much too far too force his thesis; he ironically begins to tred a path down his own conspiracy theory, attempting to convict myriad persons of holding hard-core anti-Semitic/racist views, even while admitting that the external evidence is absent, ambiguous, or tangential. We are treated to speculations, "connections," historical contamination, and the same type of silly theorizing that his own subjects so routinely engage in. The whole enterprise is then overlaid with a rather sickly and pallid academic liberal bent ... forced is the word.

Overall, a mediocre effort by a mediocre scholar, but still worth reading for those intrigued by the field, particularly insofar as Barkun truly does have an extensive grasp of the relevant background materials.

PS -- I hope that the reviews of this book posted by conspiracy theorists entertain others as much as they entertain me. Anyone interested in conspiracy theory has to possess a considerable sense of humor.

Michael Barkun of the Syracuse University Maxwell School of Journalism Barkun was selected the 2003 Distinguished Scholar by the Communal Studies Association in acknowledgement of his career of outstanding contributions to the field.

So you can see right away that he's a lunatic. And the University of California Press -- well, need I say more?

This is an excellent work by a distinguished scholar who has researched and published extensively on Millenarian and apocalyptic groups, political extremism, religious-based violence and conspiracy theories.

I think it is the fact that "conspiracy theories" are usually lumped in there with terms like "extremism" and "apocalyptic" that cause so much rage among the theorists, but while the groups are not the same, they are social responses to similar stimuli. And more popular.

Where once the land of black helicopters, government cabals, alien abductions and at least 30 conspiracy theories per assassination was populated by the wild-eyed or darkly suspicious few, now the phenomenon has woven its way into large and mainstream segments of American society. In fact, it sits in the cubicle next to me and married my cousin.

Barkun helps us to understand why this is happening, and trust me, folks, we do need to know why this is happening.

His work is lucid, well-documented and up to date. Furthermore, his goal is not to smash anyone's dreams of uncovering the REAL causes of 9/11. His work aims at helping us to understand why more and more of us think it's necessary -- or even possible -- for us to do so.

Michael Barkun is a professor of political science who studies fringe groups, usually on the far right. His most well known book is perhaps "Religion and the racist right", in which Barkun details the origins and strange beliefs of the Christian Identity movement. "A culture of conspiracy" is a broader book, which tries to make sense of the conspiracist and millenarian subcultures in general. The book succeeds quite well in its task, especially taking into consideration that the subject is vast and very unwieldy!

"A culture of conspiracy" is both a scholarly analysis of contemporary conspiracy beliefs, and an overview of the most important conspiracy writers. David Icke is prominently featured. Barkun then attempts to back track the conspiracy theories to their original sources, a task easier said than done.

One of Barkun's main points is that contemporary conspiracism and millennialism are highly eclectic, a phenomenon he calls "improvisational millennialism". Until the 1980's, millennialism was usually connected to very specific movements or ideologies, such as evangelical Christianity, Marxism or nationalism. Also, New World Order conspiracy beliefs were for a long time associated with a special kind of apocalyptic Christians (such as Pat Robertson) or with fringe groups on the far right (the John Birch Society, Nazis, etc). During the 1980's and the 1990's, all this changed. Today, millenarians and conspiracy believers freely use ideas from many different sources: Christianity, New Age, UFO beliefs, anti-Semitism, or the far right in general. Some even believe in a "fake" millennium, a phoney apocalypse staged by the conspirators! Nor are conspiracists necessarily connected to a sharply delineated organization. Rather, a whole subculture has developed, to a large extent fuelled by the Internet, where ideas can float around freely and make themselves felt without any organized movement at all.

The most important development, according to Barkun, has been the introduction of New World Order beliefs (typical of the far right) into the UFO subculture, which tends to be apolitical and less stigmatized. By connecting their conspiracy theories with a belief in UFOs, far right-wing authors have gained a broader audience than previously possible. By a curious process, this blend of conspiracy theory and UFO beliefs then re-entered the conspiracist milieu, in the form of superconspiracies with space aliens at the apex. It should be noted that the UFO subculture is well established in the United States, and that millions of Americans take UFOs seriously. Also, many believe that the government known more about the UFOs than they are letting on. Indeed, it's remarkable that it took the conspiracists so long to discover this fertile ground!

New Age ideas have also been combined with conspiracy beliefs. And New Age is a broad subculture with a certain degree of social respectability. By blending into the UFO and New Age milieus, millenarians and conspiracists can mainstream their ideas and take them to new audiences. The Australian magazine Nexus (which has an international circulation) takes exactly this approach. The magazine freely blends New World Order ideas with UFOs, "alternative" science, spirituality, and so on. Barkun also mentions the remarkable fact, that conspiracy beliefs have become part of mainstream culture. One example out of many is the popular movie "The X Files", where the obscure far right-wing idea that FEMA is an important part of the world conspiracy is introduced to a potential audience of millions. (Other examples not mentioned by the author are the TV series "Dark Skies" and "First Wave". Of course, "The X Files" were originally a TV series as well.)

Further, the author discusses the general character of conspiracy beliefs. In contrast to regular religious believers, conspiracists don't demand that their views be taken simply on faith. Rather, their approach is seemingly empirical: by presenting a load of purported facts, they actually attempt to prove that the conspiracy exists. Often, conspiracist tracts mimic the apparatus of scholarly works (footnotes, references) and look well researched. Indeed, conspiracists have a love-hate relationship with the academic world. On the one hand, universities are seen as part of the conspiracy, since they deny or don't care about conspiracy theories. On the other hand, conspiracists mimic the outer strappings of academic works, as if they wanted to become part of the academic milieu themselves. (Incidentally, this love-hate relationship to academe seems to be typical of "alternative" groups in general. It's also common that religious groups attempt to sound scientific, while actually rejecting the methods of modern science.)

As Barkun is at pains to point out, however, the empirical foundation of the conspiracy beliefs is actually very shaky and elusive. Often, the various authors simply quote each other! This cross referencing is also extremely common on the Internet, where the sheer number of times a certain rumour appears is taken as validation. At a certain point, a leap of faith is necessary to believe the conspiracy theories. I noticed this phenomenon when reading David Icke's earlier books, which present both real conspiracies, possible conspiracies, and completely absurd claims. Perhaps the existence of the two former makes it easier to take that leap of faith and also believe the latter?

That conspiracy theories aren't really based in empirical facts is also shown by a curious phenomenon Barkun dubs fact-fiction reversal. Novels, movies and even hoaxes might be interpreted as true, and hence as "empirical proof" that the conspiracy theory is real. This kind of thinking is indeed very widespread, and I suppose it's a necessary corollary to the idea that the world is in the thrall of a gigantic conspiracy. If "facts" are merely illusions, why can't fiction actually be fact? Barkun mentions several examples of science fiction stories that have been interpreted as true by conspiracy believers, including Bulwer-Lytton's novel "Vril: The Power of the Coming Race" and the Shaver Mystery (which may have been inspired by the ravings of a lunatic who actually believed in aliens). Another example, which I think Barkun misses, is David Icke's reference to the series "V" as proof that the world is indeed under attack by reptilians posing as humans. Even hoaxes can be accepted as genuine. I don't think Barkun mentions "Report from Iron Mountain" - actually a parody of conspiracy beliefs but accepted as true by many conspiracy believers - but he does mention an April Fool's hoax shown on British television, "Alternative 3". It seems conspiracists have a pretty strange view of what counts as an empirical fact!

"A culture of conspiracy" might be too tedious and detailed for the general reader. It's easy to get lost in this unwieldy, eclectic world. Barkun painstakingly tracks down the origins of even the strangest notions, and these often turn out to be obscure self-published pamphlets. Some of them can't even be dated with certainty. However, for those seriously interested in New Religious Movements or fringe politics, this book is a must.

Five stars.

The odd think about conspiracy theorists is how they build layer after layer of 'proof' on spurious sources - a house of cards of inference based, in the long run, on myth, hallucination, and too much moonshine. Michael Barkun does an excellent job of debunking the conspiratorial mindset and showing how this false layer of belief has been used to support many of the atrocities of apocalyptic thinking and behaviour.

Barkun's theses are simple presentations of the lack of any concrete proof behind the rambling raciocinations of the paranoid minority. And that, if anything, it is the ethnophobic radical right which has seized on fevered imaginings like those of F. A. Ossendowski to further agendas that would be inconceivable except in the context of a terrified fear of God's final reckoning.

Barkun uses good sense toblow back the dark clouds of conspiracy. This is a breath of fresh air. One can't help but wonder if the world would be a saner place if more people read enough of books like these to maintain a health scepticism when dealing with apocalyptic fantasies.

This book is an excellent survey of conspiracy literature. The central thesis of the book is that in the 1980s and 1990s there has been a cross-pollination of ideas between right wing extremist groups of the secular and Christian varieties and the ufologists. He traces the history of the main themes in current conspiracy theories - e.g. the world is run by a secret cabal, variously, the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderburgers, Masons, Jesuits, Jewish bankers, etc.

The negative reviews on Amazon are obviously conspiracists who spend their nights with Art Bell and George Noory. There is a certain amount of "Just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me." This stuff is pretty far fetched. As Barkun says, the "evidence" is mostly sources cross-citing each other.

There are two problems in Barkun's book: 1. he is blind to the conspiracy theories that have been adopted from the right-wing, through the New Age movements, into the vestiges of the hard left-wing. I don't know his political leanings, but most academics are socialists or Greens, which may explain the omission. 2. for all his subtle ridicule of right-wing apocalypses, he finishes the book with an over-the-top apocalyptic warning - that because conspiracy theories have passed into popular culture, it makes it more likely that it will lead to violence and social upheaval.

This is an interesting, and timely, analysis of the ever growing "field" known as conspiracy theory. If it had a fault - and it does - it is the fact it is "speaking to the converted", namely those that already know most of this stuff is a paranoid, delusional fantasy. What the author needed to do, in my opinion, was to include a chapter on basic critical reasoning skills. This would have helped people lacking this faculty to gain much needed skills. Robert Anton Wilson, perhaps the father of conspiracy theories and certainly the person who put the "Illuminate" in the world consciousness as its leader (I wonder how many conspiracy theorists know that many of their notions were originally taken from a sophisticated metaphysical joke of a novel written in the 60s?) - said that it it was this lack of critical reasoning skills that allowed the most bizarre conspiracy theories to propagate.

In this respect the book is a missed opportunity.

However, most of the one star reviews here do re-enforce the authors argument about the dangers of these theories; they completely distort these peoples view of reality and like religious fundamentalism - of which they share much - any criticism is the work of "Satanists, or in this case Shills, the new demons and "Satanists" of the 21st century.

Indeed, perhaps conspiracy theories themselves are part of a massive "conspiracy". There is certainly much political and corporate corruption in the world, but hell why examine or "fight" that, while the Lizard people from another dimension or the Satanists of bohemian grove are using their magical powers to rule the world.

And yes, of course I am a "shill", work for MI6; don't you know

_A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America_ by Michael Barkun traces out the growing trend among various underground writers of incorporating conspiracy theories into a system of stigmatized knowledge. The book explains how various conspiracy beliefs have been shifted into a realm normally occupied by such stigmatized and underground beliefs as those of the New Age and UFO subcultures. In addition conspiracy beliefs in the rise of a New World Order, beliefs in UFO abductions, government experiments in mind control, forbidden knowledge, occult science, alternative medicine, revisionist history, and speculations about the nature of reality have been combined into what Barkun refers to as "superconspiracies" which provide a systematic epistemological understanding of reality.

First though I have some criticisms of the book. Barkun obviously supports the establishment view of history, politics, and science. As such he seems to believe that conspiracy theories are "unfalsifiable" which he defines to be the determiner of a scientific theory (an arguable point) and therefore can be easily dismissed. Barkun dismisses the claims and beliefs of various liberty loving individuals who seek to track the development of an all-encompassing global government without really backing up his dismissals except by appealing more to establishment beliefs. Further, Barkun seems to believe that "improvisational millennialism" can be dangerous, leading to violence. His claims on this point appear overly alarmist, particularly in the light of the very dangers posed today by modern governments. Finally, Barkun refers to conspiracy beliefs as "right wing" and part of the "antigovernment right". Such references to traditional political categories of right versus left seem feeble in the light of the encompassing nature of conspiracy theories. Indeed, conspiracy theories are as often left wing as right wing, and simplistic categorizations of them serve no further purpose than providing a conveninent label with which to stigmatize and dismiss. Nevertheless, despite these criticisms much in this book is interesting in that it provides a systematic approach to understanding the convergence of various subcultures as well as the rise of millennial beliefs among the conspiracist underground.

Two central things to most conspiracy beliefs are the presence of a hidden organization controlling events (usually the Illuminati, based on the very real quasi-masonic secret society of the Bavarian Illuminati founded by Adam Weishaupt in 1776) and the rise of a New World Order (often with reference to Bush I's speech identifying a "new world order"). Barkun outlines in successive chapters the origins of the Illuminati in conspiracy literature as well as the role of the New World Order. Barkun considers both religious millennial sources involving the coming of Antichrist (particularly with reference to Christian dispensationalism) as well esoteric "secular" sources focusing on elite conspirators. Barkun considers the role of various government agencies in conspiracy beliefs including particularly the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well as attempts at mind control by the CIA. Barkun also discusses the notorious black helicopters and U.N. concentration camps which are bandied about by many New World Order conspiracy theorists.

Three prominent individuals played an important role in the creation of late 1990s conspiracy theories. These included the researcher Jim Keith, who notoriously emphasized both black helicopters, UFOs, and CIA mind control experiments. The tax protestor and favorite of the militias Milton William Cooper, a former military officer who expressed belief in UFO conspiracies at one point. And, the eccentric New Age conspiracist David Icke, who has made various outrageous claims involving New World Order conspiracies and a "reptilian agenda". Both Jim Keith and Milton William Cooper died mysteriously which has led to much speculation on their deaths by researchers (Cooper died in a shoot-out with local authorities).

Barkun also discusses the role of UFOs in conspiracy literature. Barkun believes that UFOs which are actively believed in by a sizable portion of the population serve to legitimize conspiracy beliefs. (Of course his argument here assumes that conspiracy beliefs are illegitimate to begin with!) Barkun also discusses various esoteric beliefs in the existence of an inner earth, both in pulp literature (including especially the Shaver mystery) as well as in non-fictional travel narratives such as those of Ferdinand Ossendowski. Barkun also discusses the role of anti-Catholicism, anti-masonry, and anti-Semitism in various conspiracy beliefs as well as the rise of these beliefs within certain UFO circles. Barkun seems overly enthusiastic to attribute these labels to individuals who may take alternative views on religion to those expressed in the mainstream. Finally, Barkun turns his attention to various conspiracy beliefs that arose out of the September 11, 2001 disaster.

This book provides a good compendium for understanding various conspiracy beliefs. However, it must be approached with caution because Barkun obviously represents an establishment viewpoint opposed to all alternative modes of thinking.

Barkun's book pulls together many different conspiracy theories, showing how they are now interacting and cross-fertilizing one another via the internet. The internet has provided a quick and effective way for a wide variety of conspiracy theorists to begin drawing from one another, thus giving the appearance of intellectual rigor by quoting one another and supporting one another. The whole thing begins looking rather incestuous after awhile as Christian millenarians start incorporating UFO or hollow earth elements into their work, for example. For those interested in the social construction of knowledge, an examination of conspiracy theories and their proliferation since the advent of the internet would prove fruitful. I do wish that Barkun had mentioned Umberto Eco's excellent novel, "Foucault's Pendulum," in his book. I know that it is probably outside of the scope of his examination of American culture, but Eco has done a masterful job of revealing the rampant anti-intellectualism of conspiracy theorists. Please read Barkun's book. It is entertaining, enlightening, and disconcerting. I found the when I tried to discuss it with friends and relatives, there were some who actually believed many of the things he was discussing. I think that worried me most of all.