Date of Thesis
Spring 2023
Description
Advancing contemporary work in the sociology of culture that contends the importance of structural explanations in the “post-truth age,” this paper contends a relationship between the contemporary appeal of the QAnon and Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, nationalist populism, and Enlightenment Project’s valorization of knowledge dissemination. In order to locate themes in the discourse of QAnon and Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists, I analyze social media messages on the avenues in which the theories most widely circulate and documentary films created by purveyors of the theories. Applying cultural theory to empirically-documented trends in social psychology, I argue that two structural currents associated with the deification of speed–the crisis of burnout and the development of the algorithm–can offer a powerful explanation of the current appeal of these largely right-wing social movements.
Keywords
Conspiracy Theory, Nationalism, Populism, Sociology of Culture, the Enlightenment, Mass Media
Access Type
Honors Thesis (Bucknell Access Only)
Degree Type
Bachelor of Arts
Major
Sociology
Minor, Emphasis, or Concentration
Music
First Advisor
Matt Baltz
Second Advisor
Michael Drexler
Recommended Citation
Mirsky, John V., "What if There's no One Pulling the Strings? A Cultural Theoretical Account of Trumpism and Big Tent Conspiracy Theories" (2023). Honors Theses. 644.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/644