DOCSLIB.ORG

In Defense of Conspiracy Theories

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Defense of Conspiracy Theories In defence of conspiracy theories Matthew Richard Xavier Xander Xanthias Xerxes Xanatos X Dracos Hieronymus Oliphant Ransome Dentith A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Auckland, 2012 ii iii Abstract The purpose of this doctoral project is to explore the epistemic issues surrounding the concept of the conspiracy theory and to advance the analysis and evaluation of the conspiracy theory as a mode of explanation. The candidate is interested in the circumstances under which inferring to the truth or likeliness of a given conspiracy theory is, or is not, warranted. iv v “To understand conspiracy theorists, I now believe, is to first understand that civilization is a conspiracy against reality.” (Vanakin, 1991, p. 259) I would like to dedicate this work to my Great Aunt Girleen and my Uncle Basil, who, of all my family, would have been the most proud, and to Lek, who was not just some cat. vi Acknowledgements Te Namu: you made complete and utterly unrealistic demands as to when this thesis should be finished. Still, thanks. Jon and Justine: it’s been a journey, has it not, and one that we all seemed to survive with our wits and friendships intact. Well done us. We deserve cake. Mum: thank you for being there for me and supporting me. To my volunteer proofers (not Truthers), Aimee Whitcroft, Andrew Withy, Giovanni Tiso, Joshua Addison, Phillippa McKeown-Green: cher cher. To James Randi and the people at the JREF: that scholarship was a boon. I hope you consider it money well-spent. To HORansome: without you a lot of this would not have been possible. viii Contents Introduction 1 1 On definitions of conspiracy theories 15 1.1 Conspiracies . 16 1.2 Some terminology . 18 1.3 Conspiracy theories: a survey of definitions and conceptions 19 1.3.1 Non-philosophical definitions of conspiracy theories 19 1.3.1.1 The Oxford English Dictionary on conspir- acy theories . 19 1.3.1.2 Political commentators . 20 1.3.1.3 Historians . 22 1.3.1.4 Sociologists . 23 1.3.1.5 Psychology . 25 1.3.2 Philosophical work on conspiracy theories . 26 1.3.2.1 Brian L. Keeley . 26 1.3.2.2 Charles Pigden . 27 1.3.2.3 Lee Basham . 28 1.3.2.4 Steve Clarke . 30 1.3.2.5 David Coady . 30 1.3.2.6 Neil Levy . 32 1.3.2.7 Pete Mandik . 32 1.3.2.8 Juha Raikk¨ a¨ . 33 1.3.3 Commonalities and a taxonomy of conspiracy theories 35 1.4 Some features of my definition of “conspiracy theory” . 37 1.4.1 The First Feature: Surprise parties qualify as con- spiracies . 39 1.4.2 The Second Feature: Conspiracies are not necessar- ily a sinister kind of activity . 43 1.5 Conclusion . 47 x CONTENTS 2 The role of desires and intentions in conspiracy theories 49 2.1 Conspiracy theories as historical explanations . 50 2.2 Criticisms of the intentional aspect of conspiracy theories . 51 2.3 Inferring to the desire to conspire . 55 2.3.1 Linking desires of agents with the occurrence of events . 56 2.3.1.1 Qualified conspiracy theorists . 57 2.3.2 Conspiring together: claims of conspiracy as claims about group activity . 62 3 The Open Society and the issue of the Public Trust 67 3.1 The conspiracy theory of society . 68 3.1.1 Consummation . 70 3.2 The unfalsifiability of conspiracy theories . 73 3.2.1 Errant data . 75 3.3 Public Trust Skepticism . 83 3.4 The Openness Objection . 92 4 Contrasting conspiracy and official theories 99 4.1 The Role of Endorsements in assessing explanations . 101 4.2 Contrasting the endorsement of an explanation with its evidential support . 104 4.2.1 The Moscow Show Trials . 104 4.3 Finessing the space between warranted endorsed and un- warranted sneered at explanations . 108 4.4 Appealing to Authority . 114 4.4.1 Lysenkoism . 118 4.4.2 Can we trust political sources? . 125 4.4.3 Individual vs. group trust . 129 5 Disinformation and the selective use of evidence in conspiracy and official theories 135 5.1 Selectiveness and Disinformation . 136 5.2 Example I: Rock Me, Amadeus . 139 5.3 Example II: Operation 8 . 144 5.4 Inspecting for selected evidence and disinformation . 151 6 The transmission of conspiracy theories 157 6.1 Rumours . 160 6.1.1 CAJ Coady on the unreliability of rumours . 162 6.1.2 David Coady on rumours and reliability . 164 CONTENTS xi 6.2 Rumouring vs. rumour-mongering . 167 6.3 The transmission of conspiracy theories . 172 7 The Inference to the Existence of a Conspiracy 185 7.1 The Inference to Any Old Explanation . 186 7.1.1 Example I: Lewis Carroll and Alice Liddell . 187 7.2 Four mistakes an agent might make when inferring to an explanatory hypothesis . 191 7.2.1 Example II: Irvine and Mallory’s attempt at the sum- mit of Sagarmath¯ a¯ . 192 7.2.2 Example III: Not exactly Life on Mars . 193 7.3 Conspiracy theories and Inferring to Them . 196 7.3.1 Example IV: The Inside Job Hypotheses . 199 7.3.2 Example V: The Outside Job Hypothesis . 202 7.4 Linking a warranted belief in the existence of a conspiracy to an explanation . 204 7.4.1 Example VI: The Oklahoma City Bombing . 205 7.4.2 Example VII: A Paranoid Peer-Review Fantasy . 208 References 217 xii CONTENTS Introduction Former American presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche believes that the psychedelic rock group, “The Grateful Dead,” were a front for the British Secret Service’s Occult Branch and were sent to the United States of America by direct order of the Queen of England to promote drugs to American youths. According to LaRouche, this is simply one fight in the grandest and most philosophical conspiracy of all time, which is the conflict between the Empiricists (whose philosophical leaders include such luminaries as David Hume and Bertrand Russell) and the Rational- ists (whose most notable “founder,” apparently, is Immanuel Kant). The Empiricists (who, according to LaRouche, are the power behind the dec- adent United Kingdom and the European Union) are seeking to force their hedonistic ways on the American people and their American Way of Life, which LaRouche has identified as the most ideal form of Rationalism1. If LaRouche is to be believed, whether we are aware of it or not, philosophers are part and parcel of a grand conspiracy to decide what form our civilisation will take in the future. 1Which he characterises as a philosophy in which we live our lives according to strict moral truths derived from reasoning rather than mere experience. 2 Introduction In 1774CE Adam Weishaupt founded a secret society, the Illuminati, a group which specialised in the infiltration and taking over of Freemasonic lodges in order to promote the ideals of the Enlightenment. Although the Illuminati were officially disbanded in 1785CE by edict of the Bav- arian Government, the Illuminati merely went to ground and focused their attention elsewhere. Some of the Illuminati went to France, which was going through a period of political upheaval. They infiltrated the Bourgeoisie and, by fomenting anti-Church and anti-monarchal sentiment, they were able to orchestrate the First (and glorious) French Revolution of 1789CE. The Illuminati masterplan was simple: they would work towards the goal of overthrowing all aristocratic, non-democratic governments until the world was being governed by the people, for the people. Or, at least, that was what the members of the Illuminati wanted us to believe. By the time of the First French Revolution Weishaupt had emigrated to the Americas where he had replaced a now deceased George Washington (of whom he was the spitting image) at the Constitutional Convention of 1787CE. By playing off settler antipathy towards the British Crown he, and other like-minded Illuminati, brought about the formation of the United States of America. The Illuminati’s real plan was one that focussed on the long-term goal of bringing the entire world under one global synarchist (but not aristocratic)2 government. Focussing mostly on the fledging nation of 2Synarchism is the political system where the people best suited to rule are given political power. It is taken to be a rival to Anarchism. 3 America, supported at the time by the new French Republic, a set of scandals around the ownership of slaves were created to bring the loosely knit collation of the individual States into one federally controlled Union. An economic depression was then orchestrated by the Illuminati in the early Twentieth Century to ensure that American-made goods would pro- liferate overseas and thus make the world reliant on American industry. Once this financial control was established, medical experimentation on ethnic minorities soon followed, allowing, in the late Twentieth Century, for a global, American-run, pharmaceutical concern to come into domin- ance with the specific intention of introducing fluoride, a chemical agent known to make humans docile, into foreign water-supplies, thus aiding the Illuminati in carrying out their masterplan of global governance. Or so some claim. In September 2001CE eleven Middle-Eastern nationals hijacked four flights flying over the continental United States of America. Two of the hijacked planes were then crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York, destroying the Twin Towers. These actions were designed to show the citizens and government of the USA just how vulnerable it was to external threats and, to a certain extent, remind the American people of their implicit support, through the deeds of their democratically-elected government, for their actions on foreign soil.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism Cosmopolitan Reflections
    Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism Cosmopolitan Reflections David Hirsh Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK The Working Papers Series is intended to initiate discussion, debate and discourse on a wide variety of issues as it pertains to the analysis of antisemitism, and to further the study of this subject matter. Please feel free to submit papers to the ISGAP working paper series. Contact the ISGAP Coordinator or the Editor of the Working Paper Series, Charles Asher Small. Working Paper Hirsh 2007 ISSN: 1940-610X © Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy ISGAP 165 East 56th Street, Second floor New York, NY 10022 United States Office Telephone: 212-230-1840 www.isgap.org ABSTRACT This paper aims to disentangle the difficult relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. On one side, antisemitism appears as a pressing contemporary problem, intimately connected to an intensification of hostility to Israel. Opposing accounts downplay the fact of antisemitism and tend to treat the charge as an instrumental attempt to de-legitimize criticism of Israel. I address the central relationship both conceptually and through a number of empirical case studies which lie in the disputed territory between criticism and demonization. The paper focuses on current debates in the British public sphere and in particular on the campaign to boycott Israeli academia. Sociologically the paper seeks to develop a cosmopolitan framework to confront the methodological nationalism of both Zionism and anti-Zionism. It does not assume that exaggerated hostility to Israel is caused by underlying antisemitism but it explores the possibility that antisemitism may be an effect even of some antiracist forms of anti- Zionism.
    [Show full text]
  • Communication & Media Studies
    COMMUNICATION & MEDIA STUDIES BOOKS FOR COURSES 2011 PENGUIN GROUP (USA) Here is a great selection of Penguin Group (usa)’s Communications & Media Studies titles. Click on the 13-digit ISBN to get more information on each title. n Examination and personal copy forms are available at the back of the catalog. n For personal service, adoption assistance, and complimentary exam copies, sign up for our College Faculty Information Service at www.penguin.com/facinfo 2 COMMUNICaTION & MEDIa STUDIES 2011 CONTENTS Jane McGonigal Mass Communication ................... 3 f REality IS Broken Why Games Make Us Better and Media and Culture .............................4 How They Can Change the World Environment ......................................9 Drawing on positive psychology, cognitive sci- ence, and sociology, Reality Is Broken uncov- Decision-Making ............................... 11 ers how game designers have hit on core truths about what makes us happy and uti- lized these discoveries to astonishing effect in Technology & virtual environments. social media ...................................13 See page 4 Children & Technology ....................15 Journalism ..................................... 16 Food Studies ....................................18 Clay Shirky Government & f CognitivE Surplus Public affairs Reporting ................. 19 Creativity and Generosity Writing for the Media .....................22 in a Connected age Reveals how new technology is changing us from consumers to collaborators, unleashing Radio, TElEvision, a torrent
    [Show full text]
  • David Alderson Book Title
    Chapter Title: Saturday’s Enlightenment Chapter Author(s): David Alderson Book Title: End of empire and the English novel since 1945 Book Editor(s): Rachael Gilmour, Bill Schwarz Published by: Manchester University Press. (2011) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvkn0.16 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Manchester University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to End of empire and the English novel since 1945 This content downloaded from 155.69.24.171 on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 08:25:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 11 Saturday’s Enlightenment David Alderson The principal focus of this essay is on Ian McEwan’s novel, Saturday. The motivation for writing it, however, is to engage with larger debates on the British left – including the liberal left to which McEwan in some sense belongs – about the US- and British-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and more generally about the continuing imperatives of empire. Set on 15 February, the day of the anti-invasion protests – though published in 2005, and written therefore in the knowledge of all that had
    [Show full text]
  • Michaelmas 2009 Termcard
    Mich TheTermcard The Termcard * MICHAELM AS 2009 2009 T H E CAMBRIDGE UNION SOC IET Y • MICHAELMAS TERMCARD WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JULIEN DOMERCQ THE CAMBRIDGE UNION SOCIETY MICHAELMAS TERM MMIX Printed and bound in Great Britain for The Cambridge Union Society Illustrations by Anna Trench Designed by Dylan Spencer-Davidson Made with a lot of help from Lizzie Robinson and Michael Derringer. Thank you Penguin Books. Contents INTRODUCTION 7 CHAPTER I: DEBATES 10 CHAPTER II: FORUMS 32 CHAPTER III: SPEAKERS 34 Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter 36 Eoin Colfer 37 Ethan Gutmann 38 Terry Eagleton 39 Jo Brand 40 Andrew Rashbass 41 Damian Green MP 42 Dara Ó Briain 43 Former PM John Howard 44 Professor Richard J. Evans 45 Simon Wolfson 46 Jon Sopel 47 Lord Paddy Ashdown 48 Howard Jacobson 49 The Cambridge Union Society John Bolton 50 9A Bridge Street Cambridge CHAPTER IV: SPEAKERS in association with other societies 51 CB2 1UB CHAPTER V: ENTS 58 Office Hours 9.30AM to 5PM T +44 (0) 1223 566 421 Freshers’ Week 60 F +44 (0) 1223 566 444 Weekly Ents 63 www.cus.org / [email protected] Halloween Murder Mystery Party 65 6 CONTENTS Cavatina Chamber Music Concert 66 Love Music Hate Racism Concert 67 WELCOME TO Art Exhibition 68 MICHAELMAS TERM 2009 Cheese Tasting 68 The Union Comedy Club 69 Mexican Fiesta 70 Sushi Making & Tasting 70 Welcome to Michaelmas term at the Union! Whether you are re- Ann Summers Party 71 turning to Cambridge or you have just arrived, we have all worked Christmas Beach Party 71 very hard all summer to make sure that there’s something for everyone here this term.
    [Show full text]
  • M N Times Oder
    MODERN TIMES MODERN MODERN “In Modern Times, Cathy Sweeney gives TIMES us fables of the present that are funny, A woman orders a sex doll vertiginous and melancholy.” for her husband’s birthday. —David Hayden MODERN A man makes films without “ Cathy Sweeney’s stories have already a camera. A married couple lives in attracted a band of fanatical devotees, and Cathy Sweeney take turns to sit in an electric Dublin. She studied at this first collection is as marvellous as we could CATHY SWEENEY chair. Cathy Sweeney’s Trinity College and taught have hoped for. A unique imagination, a brilliant debut.” TIMES wonderfully inventive English at second level for —Kevin Barry debut collection offers many years before turning snapshots of an unsettling, to writing. Her work has “I loved this collection. It vibrates with a glorious strangeness! Magnificently weird, hugely dislocated world. Surprising been published in various entertaining, deeply profound.” “ and uncanny, funny and magazines and journals. Magnificently weird, —Danielle McLaughlin hugely entertaining.” transgressive, these stories Danielle McLaughlin only look like distortions of reality. The Stinging Fly Press, Dublin www.stingingfly.org CATHY SWEENEY “A unique imagination, “Funny, vertiginous a brilliant debut.” and melancholy.” Kevin Barry David Hayden The Stinging Fly Cover Design: Catherine Gaffney Author Photo: Meabh Fitzpatrick RIGHTS GUIDE LONDON 2020 ROGERS, COLERIDGE AND WHITE LTD. 20 Powis Mews London W11 1JN Tel: 020 7221 3717 Fax: 020 7229 9084 www.rcwlitagency.com Twitter:
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Colonizing Iraq
    tariq ali Editorial RE-COLONIZING IRAQ n 15 February 2003, over eight million people marched on the streets of five continents against a war that had not yet Obegun. This first truly global mobilization—unprecedented in size, scope or scale—sought to head off the occupation of Iraq being plotted in the Pentagon. The turnout in Western Europe broke all records: three million in Rome, two million in Spain, a million and a half in London, half a million in Berlin, over a hundred thousand in Paris, Brussels and Athens. In Istanbul, where the local authorities vetoed a protest march in the name of ‘national security’, the peace movement called a press conference to denounce the ban—to which ten thousand ‘journalists’ turned up. In the United States there were mass demonstrations in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and la and smaller assemblies in virtually every state capital: over a million people in all. Another half a million marched in Canada. The antipodean wing of the movement assembled 500,000 in Sydney and 250,000 in Melbourne. On 21 March, as British and American forces headed across the Iraqi border, the long quiescent Arab street, inspired by these global protests, came to life with spontaneous mass demonstrations in Cairo, Sanaa and Amman. In Egypt, the mercenary regime of Hosni Mubarak panicked and arrested over 800 people, some of whom were viciously maltreated in prison. In the Yemen, over 30,000 people marched against the war; a sizeable contingent made for the us Embassy and had to be stopped with bullets.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the University of Manchester Since 1951
    Pullan2004jkt 10/2/03 2:43 PM Page 1 University ofManchester A history ofthe HIS IS THE SECOND VOLUME of a history of the University of Manchester since 1951. It spans seventeen critical years in T which public funding was contracting, student grants were diminishing, instructions from the government and the University Grants Commission were multiplying, and universities feared for their reputation in the public eye. It provides a frank account of the University’s struggle against these difficulties and its efforts to prove the value of university education to society and the economy. This volume describes and analyses not only academic developments and changes in the structure and finances of the University, but the opinions and social and political lives of the staff and their students as well. It also examines the controversies of the 1970s and 1980s over such issues as feminism, free speech, ethical investment, academic freedom and the quest for efficient management. The author draws on official records, staff and student newspapers, and personal interviews with people who experienced the University in very 1973–90 different ways. With its wide range of academic interests and large student population, the University of Manchester was the biggest unitary university in the country, and its history illustrates the problems faced by almost all British universities. The book will appeal to past and present staff of the University and its alumni, and to anyone interested in the debates surrounding higher with MicheleAbendstern Brian Pullan education in the late twentieth century. A history of the University of Manchester 1951–73 by Brian Pullan with Michele Abendstern is also available from Manchester University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • From Wigan Pier to Airstrip One
    From Wigan Pier to Airstrip One: A Critical Evaluation of George Orwell’s Writing and Politics post-September 11 Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by David L Urry School of Media, Communication and Culture Murdoch University 2005 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work that has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. 30/03/2005 David L. Urry 1 Acknowledgements This thesis was written under the auspices of Associate Professor Tara Brabazon. I am grateful too for additional support from Professor Steve Redhead, my family and friends, and postgraduate colleagues. Thanks to everyone concerned. 2 Eric Arthur Blair GEORGE ORWELL Figure 1 3 Abstract This thesis summons a contemporary reading of George Orwell, evaluating his current role and function as novelist, essayist, and twentieth century cultural icon. The year 2003 marked the centenary of Eric Blair’s birth and proved a productive year for Blair (and Orwell) enthusiasts. After nearly three years of research, my journey through Orwell’s words and world(s) has undergone significant re-evaluation, taking me far beyond such an appropriate commemoration. In the tragic aftermath of 9/11 ― through Afghanistan and Iraq, Bali, Madrid, and London ― Orwell’s grimly dystopian vision acquires renewed significance for a new generation. Few writers (living or dead) are as enduringly newsworthy and malleable as George Orwell. The scope and diversity of his work ― the sheer volume of his letters, essays, and assorted journalism ― elicits a response from academics, journalists, critics and readers.
    [Show full text]
  • Programme 2021 Thank You to Our Partners and Supporters
    8–17 October 2021 cheltenhamfestivals.com/ literature #cheltlitfest PROGRAMME 2021 THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS Title Partner Festival Partners The Times and The Sunday Times Australia High Commission Supported by: the Australian Government and the British Council as part of the UK/Australia Season 2021-22 Principal Partners BPE Solicitors Arts Council England Cheltenham BID Baillie Gifford Creative New Zealand Bupa Creative Scotland Bupa Foundation Culture Ireland Costa Coffee Dutch Foundation For Literature Cunard Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Sky Arts Goethe Institut Thirty Percy Hotel Du Vin Waterstones Marquee TV Woodland Trust Modern Culture The Oldham Foundation Penney Financial Partners Major Partners Peters Rathbones Folio Prize The Daffodil T. S. Eliot Foundation Dean Close School T. S. Eliot Prize Mira Showers University Of Gloucestershire Pegasus Unwin Charitable Trust St. James’s Place Foundation Willans LLP Trusts and Societies The Booker Prize Foundation CLiPPA – The CLPE Poetry Award CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) Icelandic Literature Center Institut Francais Japan Foundation Keats-Shelley Memorial Association The Peter Stormonth Darling Charitable Trust Media Partners Cotswold Life SoGlos In-Kind Partners The Cheltenham Trust Queen’s Hotel 2 The warmest of welcomes to The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival 2021! We are thrilled and delighted to be back in our vibrant tented Festival Village in the heart of this beautiful spa town. Back at full strength, our packed programme for all ages is a 10-day celebration of the written word in all its glorious variety – from the best new novels to incisive journalism, brilliant memoir, hilarious comedy, provocative spoken word and much more.
    [Show full text]
  • Articles from the Archive
    edia agazine MArti clesM from the Archive www.mediamagazine.org.uk MMblog cover.indd 1 20/01/2014 12:08 Welcome to EMC’s free sample from MediaMagazine’s archive. In this PDF you will find: • An Interview with David Aaronovitch MM44, April 2013 • Music and Politics MM36, April 2011 • There’s a Riot Going On MM38, December 2011 • Social Networking and Citizen Journalism MM39, February 2012 • The Great(est) Escape: Why Audiences Really Play Video Games MM40, April 2012 To subscribe: Order online at: http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribe.html Complete the order form at the back of this PDF and send to: Emma Marron English and Media Centre 18 Compton Terrace London N1 2UN See www.mediamagazine.org.uk for full details of the magazine and website and to download a sample copy. Join the MediaMagazine community at www.facebook.com/mediamag.emc MMblog cover.indd 2 20/01/2014 12:08 MM It is simply not true to say that MediaMag interviews The Times everybody’s opinion about everything columnist David Aaronovitch – a lone voice amongst journalists in is as valid as everyone else’s opinion recognising the importance of Media about everything. Studies. He tells us why he thinks the subject should be part of the core curriculum, what all young people should know about the media, why Media Studies is often received with such hostility in the An interview with press, and how far social media are David Aaronovitch a force for democracy. Who is David Aaronovitch? David Aaronovitch is a broadcaster and journalist with a very long pedigree.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Psychiatric Knowledge on the Soviet Periphery: Mental Health And
    Psychiatric knowledge on the Soviet periphery: mental health and disorder in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, 1948-1975 Sarah Victoria Marks UCL PhD History of Medicine 1 Plagiarism Statement I, Sarah Victoria Marks confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract This thesis traces the development of concepts and aetiologies of mental disorder in East Germany and Czechoslovakia under Communism, drawing on material from psychiatry and its allied disciplines, as well as discourses on mental health in the popular press and Party literature. I explore the transnational exchanges that shaped these concepts during the Cold War, including those with the USSR, China and other countries in the Soviet sphere of influence, as well as engagement with science from the 'West'. It challenges assumptions about the 'pavlovization' and top-down control of psychiatry, demonstrating that researchers were far from isolated from international developments, and were able to draw on a broad range of theoretical models (albeit providing they employed certain political or linguistic man). In turn, the flow of knowledge also occurred from the periphery to the centre. Rather than casting the history of psychiatry as one of the scientific community in opposition to the Party, I explore the methods individuals used to further their professional and personal interests, and examples of psychiatrists who engaged ± whether explicitly or reluctantly ± in the project of building socialism as a consequence. I also address broader questions about the history of psychiatry after 1945, a period which is still overshadowed in the literature by 19th century asylum studies and histories of psychoanalysis.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title From Truth to Time: Soviet Central Television, 1957-1985 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2702x6wr Author Evans, Christine Elaine Publication Date 2010 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California From Truth to Time: Soviet Central Television, 1957-1985 By Christine Elaine Evans A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Yuri Slezkine, Chair Professor Victoria Frede Professor Olga Matich Spring 2010 From Truth to Time: Soviet Central Television, 1957-1985 © 2010 By Christine Elaine Evans Abstract From Truth to Time: Soviet Central Television, 1957-1985 by Christine Elaine Evans Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Yuri Slezkine, Chair The Brezhnev era (1964-1982) was also the era of television. The First Channel of Moscow’s Central Television Studio began to reach all eleven Soviet time zones in the same years, 1965-1970, that marked the beginning of a new political era, the period of decline, corruption, and cynicism, but also stability, relative prosperity, and vibrant popular culture, that came to be called, retrospectively, the “era of stagnation.” Nearly all of the iconic images and sounds of this period were mediated by television: Brezhnev’s slurred speech and corpselike appearance, the singing of Iosif Kobzon and Alla Pugacheva, the parades and funerals on Red Square, and Olympic figure skating, to name just a few. Quotations and jokes drawn from specific TV movies and shows are ubiquitous in post-Soviet memoirs and the press.
    [Show full text]