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Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating

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Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating to Democracy ToCONSPIRAxCY THEOi RIEcS, DEMONIZATION, & SCAPEGOATING A publication of Political Research Associate s by Chip Berlet to Democracy ToCONSPIRAxCY THEOi RIEcS, DEMONIZATION, & SCAPEGOATING A publication of Political Research Associate s UPDATED by Chip Berlet Political Research Associates is a progressive think tank devoted to supporting movements that are building a more just and inclusive democratic society. We expose movements, institutions, and ideologies that undermine human rights. PRA seeks to advance progressive thinking and action by providing research- based information, analysis, and referrals. For more information on this topic: www.publiceye.org/jump/toxic/ Copyright ©2009, Political Research Associates ISBN #978-0-915987-21-4 Design by Hird Graphic Design Political Research Associates 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 Somerville, MA 02144 Conspiracy Theories, Demonization, & Scapegoating Acknowledgements y research would not be possible without the support of the staff, directors, and board of MPolitical Research Associates where I have worked for over 25 years. My interest in apocalypticism has been assisted by conversations with and encouragement from my colleagues at the Center for Millennial Studies, especially Richard A. Landes, Brenda E. Brasher, Michael Barkun, Stephen D. O’Leary, Lee Quinby, Andrew Gow, David Redles, Gershom Gorenberg, Philip Lamy, Charles B. Strozier, Damian Thompson, and Daniel Pipes. In addition, in the area of apocalypticism, Norman Cohn, Frances FitzGerald, Paul S. Boyer, Sara Diamond, Carol Mason, and Susan Harding have influenced my work; as have Barkun, Mason, Frank P. Mintz, Mark Fenster, Robert Alan Goldberg, and Jérôme Jamin, in the area of conspiracism. I am following in the footsteps of James M. Rhodes, Robert Wistrich, Robert Ellwood, and David Redles who forged a path connecting Nazism with millenarianism. Emilio Gentile and Roger Griffin did the same in terms of connecting fascism to the sacralization of politics and heroic palingenetic narratives. Much of my work in this area involved a collaboration with Matthew N. Lyons, with whom I co-authored Right-Wing Populism in America , from which I expropriated (with permission) ideas and small bits of text. Special thanks for reading and rereading the manuscript and making (numerous) sug - gested changes go to Maria Planansky, Tarso Luís Ramos, and Pam Chamberlain. Kris Coombs compiled the bibliography while Nathaniel Rosenblum, Zoe Crowley, and Alexandra J. DiBranco and others helped with proofreading and fact-checking. Thanks also to Debbie Hird for her design and layout and Maria Planansky for coordinating production. All errors, alas, are my responsibility alone. A central portion of this study began as a paper presented at the conference: Reconsidering “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”: 100 Years After the Forgery, The Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, Boston University, October 30-31, 2005. The most recent material on current conspiracy theories was prepared for an article,“Fears of Fédéralisme in the United States: The Case of the ‘North American Union’ Conspiracy Theory,” forthcoming in Revue Fédéralisme-Régionalisme, Université de Liège. POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES iii Some research and text included in this report was originally published in the following texts listed chronologically: Chip Berlet,“Frank Donner: An Appreciation,” CovertAction Quarterly , Summer 1995, pp. 17–19. _____,“Three Models for Analyzing Conspiracist Mass Movements of the Right.” In Eric Ward (Ed.), Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements , pp. 47–75) (Seattle: Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, Peanut Butter Publishing, 1996) _____ and Matthew N. Lyons, 1998. “One Key to Litigating Against Government Prosecution of Dissidents: Understanding the Underlying Assumptions.” Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Law Report , in two parts, Vol. 5, No. 13, January-February Vol. 5, No. 14, MarchApril, West Group. _____,“Dances with Devils: How Apocalyptic and Millennialist Themes Influence Right Wing Scapegoating and Conspiracism,” The Public Eye , Vol. 12, Nos. 2 & 3, Fall 1998; pp. 1, 3-22; _____ and Matthew N. Lyons. 2000. Right–Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. New York: Guilford Press. _____,“Mapping the Political Right: Gender and Race Oppression in Right-Wing Movements,” in Abby Ferber, (ed.), Home-Grown Hate: Gender and Organized Racism (New York, 2004), pp. 19-47; _____,“Anti-Masonic Conspiracy Theories: A Narrative Form of Demonization and Scapegoating,” in Arturo de Hoyos and S. Brent Morris, (eds.), Freemasonry in Context: History, Ritual, Controversy (Lanham, 2004), pp. 273-300; _____,“Christian Identity: The Apocalyptic Style, Political Religion, Palingenesis and Neo- Fascism,” Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions , Vol. 5, No. 3, (Winter 2004), pp. 469-506; _____,“Zog Ate My Brains.” New Internationalist (London), Issue 372 (October 2004), pp. 20-21; Special Issue on Judeophobia, online at http://www.newint.org/features/2004/10/01/conspiracism. _____,“When Alienation Turns Right: Populist Conspiracism, the Apocalyptic Style, and Neofascist Movements,” in Lauren Langman and Devorah Kalekin Fishman, (eds.), Trauma, Promise, and the Millennium: The Evolution of Alienation (Lanham, 2005), pp. 115-144. _____,“Siren song – conspiracy!” New Internationalist (London), Issue 405 (October 2007). Special Issue on the Dumbing Down of Politics, online at http://www.newint.org/features/2007/ 10/01/paranoia/. _____,“Crackpots, the Left, and ‘Jewish Banker Cabals.” Eyes Right column, Z Magazine , Vol.20 No. 11, (November 2007), http://www.zcommunications.org/zmag/viewArticle/15687. _____,“The New Political Right in the United States: Reaction, Rollback, and Resentment.” In Michael Thompson, ed, Confronting the New Conservatism. The Rise of the Right in America , (New York, NYU Press, 2007). _____,“The United States: Messianism, Apocalypticism, and Political Religion.” In Matthew Feldman, Roger Griffin and Robert Mallett, eds., The Sacred in Twentieth Century Politics: Essays in Honour of Professor Stanley G. Payne. (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). _____,“Right-Wing Witch Hunts, Then and Now, Debbie Almontaser and Hallie Flanagan, Z Magazine , May 1, 2008. _____,“Fears of Fédéralisme in the United States: The Case of the ‘North American Union’ Conspiracy Theory,” Revue Fédéralisme-Régionalisme , Université de Liège, online journal, forthcoming. iv POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES Contents Acknowledgements . i Executive Summary . 2 Toxic to Democracy . 6 Conspiracy Theories Surge After 9/11 Attacks . 7 What’s Behind Conspiracy Theories . 9 The Tools of Fear . 11 Unpacking the Concept of Conspiracism . 13 The Roots of Modern Conspiracy Theories . 16 Right-Wing Populism and Conspiracism . 25 From Masons to Multiple Mutations . 28 Dynamics and Processes . 31 Government Countersubversive Conspiracy Theories . 36 The Dangers of Conspiracism . 43 Conclusions . 47 Appendix . 49 Notes . 54 Bibliography . 67 Index . 81 Update . 85 About the Author . 87 About the Publishers . 88 POLITICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES 1 Toxic to Democracy Executive Summary ven before Barack Obama was sworn in as the from belief in an apocalyptic struggle between “good” E44th President of the United States the Internet and “evil,” in which demonized enemies are com - was seething with lurid conspiracy theories exposing plicit in a vast insidious plot against the common his alleged subversion and treachery. Among the good, and against which the conspiracist must hero - many false claims: Obama was not a proper citizen of ically sound the alarm. As seen in the aforemen - the United States (and his election as President tioned examples, this type of conspiracism can move should thus be overturned); he was a secret, funda - easily from the margins to the mainstream. mentalist Muslim; he was a tool of the New World This study challenges the validity of conspiracy Order in a plot to merge the government of the theory as a form of political analysis, and traces the United States into a North American Union with roots and dynamics of conspiracism through United Mexico and Canada. States history. Drawing on his extensive scholarly as Hours following a flubbed inaugural oath of well as popular writing on the topic, author Chip office, the Internet circulated claims that Obama was Berlet shows that the development of modern con - not really President of the United States because the spiracism is rooted in bigotry and that the conspiracist wording of the oath of office had been scrambled by analytical model itself encourages demonization and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. A few scapegoating of blameless persons and groups. In so days after the inauguration came a warning that doing, conspiracism also serves to distract society and Obama planned to impose martial law and collect all its would-be agents of change away from ongoing, guns. structural causes of social and economic injustices. Many of these false claims recall those floated by Examining various episodes spanning more than 200 right-wing conspiracy theorists in the armed citizens years of U.S. history, Toxic to Democracy demonstrates Militia Movement during the Clinton administration how conspiracy theories have repeatedly garnered —allegations that percolated up through the media mass public followings. Throughout, the basic and were utilized by Republican political operatives dynamics of conspiracism remained the same regard - to hobble the
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