CFP: American Conspiracies: An Interdisciplinary Volume on the Structure of Conspiratorial Beliefs in the U.S.

Luke Ritter, an assistant professor at New Mexico Highlands University, is calling for submissions for an forthcoming book on American conspiratorial thinking. Abstracts are due by August 15, 2022.

This collection of short and accessible essays (5,000 words each) will not attempt to intervene in a particular field but rather will finally put leading scholars from various fields in conversation with one another to determine: a) the structure of American conspiratorial beliefs; b) the factors that have given rise to popular conspiracy beliefs across time and place; and c) the political and social functions popular conspiracy theories have historically served. 

The volume seeks a synthesis of what scholars from various fields have found in their research – including but not limited to information science, library science, political science, philosophy, psychology, history, literature, and journalism – collected in such a way as to inspire discussion, interdisciplinarity, and future research. The volume’s guiding research questions are thus: what is the structure of American conspiratorial beliefs? Which factors have given rise to popular conspiracy theories in the U.S.? What functions have popular conspiracy theories historically served?