Conspiracy Theories, MIllennialism, and the Nation: Understanding the collective voice in improvisational millennialism Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors Wilson, Andrew Fergus Citation Wilson, AF. 2020. 'Conspiracy Theories, Millennialism, and the Nation: Understanding the collective voice in improvisational millennialism', PhD Thesis, University of Derby, Derby Publisher University of Derby Rights Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Download date 29/09/2021 16:28:37 Item License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10545/625070 UNIVERSITY OF DERBY CONSPIRACY THEORIES, MILLENNIALISM, AND THE NATION: Understanding the collective voice in improvisational millennialism College of Business, Law & Social Sciences September 2019 Andrew Fergus Wilson A submission in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Derby for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy or Master of Philosophy by Published Works Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... ii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Conceptual and Methodological Approaches ........................................................................ 4 Researching online public culture: ethical considerations ................................................... 7 The submitted works and their relation to the central themes .......................................... 12 Thematic development........................................................................................................... 16 The ‘places’ of improvisational millennialism in the submitted works ............................ 18 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 20 References ................................................................................................................................ 22 Appendices A-I .......................................................................................................................... 1 Appendix A. (2011a) 'Beyond Reason: The Exotic Millennium in English Culture' Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Vol. 23(2). Summer 2011 ................................................ 3 Appendix B. (2011b) 'On the outskirts of the new global village: computer-mediated visions of the end.' In Rob G. Howard (ed.) Network Apocalypse: Visions of the End in an Age of Internet Media. Sheffield: Phoenix Press. .................................................................. 1 Appendix C. (2012) ‘From Apocalyptic Paranoia to the Mythic nation: Political extremity and myths of origin in the neo-fascist milieu’ in Marion Gibson, Garry Tregidga and Shelley Trower (eds.) Myth, Mysticism, and 'Celtic' Nationalism. London: Routledge. .... 29 Appendix D. (Wilson 2013) 'From Mushrooms to the stars: 2012 and the apocalyptic milieu' in S.Harvey & S.Newcombe (eds.) Prophecy in the New Millennium - When Prophecies Persist. Farnham: Ashgate. ................................................................................ 50 Appendix E. (Wilson 2017a) ‘Postcards from the Cosmos: Cosmic Spaces in Alternative Religion and Conspiracy Theories’. The Journal of Astrosociology Volume 2. ................. 66 Appendix F. (Wilson 2017b) ‘The Bitter End: Apocalypse and conspiracy in white nationalist responses to the ISIL Paris Attacks’. Patterns of Prejudice 51(5), 412-431. .... 87 Appendix G. (Wilson 2018) ‘#whitegenocide, the Alt-right and Conspiracy Theory: How Secrecy and Suspicion Contributed to the Mainstreaming of Hate.’ Secrecy and Society 1(2). .................................................................................................................................... 109 Appendix H. (Wilson 2019) 'The Prism of Lyra: UFO Consciousness and Portals to Cosmic Awareness’ in J.Poller (ed.) Altered Consciousness in the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge............................................................................................................. 140 Abstract The following critical appraisal presents eight interlinked works that apply and extend Michael Barkun’s (2003) concept of ‘improvisational millennialism’. This body of work demonstrates that, as Barkun suggests, the concept is widely applicable to the online communities in which stigmatized knowledge is widely accepted. Moreover, it extends the definition to consider how improvisational millennialism provides ill-defined or dispossessed communities a means of articulating a collective relationship to historical time as well as a crude means of shoring up basic assumptions of group membership. Mythical pasts and millennial expectation provide the opportunity for shared eschatological orientation whilst the dualism of conspiracy theories demarcates between the communities and their outsiders. This critical review demonstrates how the journal articles and book chapters collected in the appendices provide specific examples of the application and extension of improvisational millennialism. The examples chosen are varied but a persistent theme drawn out through analysis is the role that national cultures – official and official – are articulated through improvisational millennialism. The examples include consideration of how the depiction of millennial beliefs in the mass media contribute to national cultural constructs but more typically focus on the use of improvisational millennialism in online communities. Of the latter, the greater number of examples are concerned with improvisational millennialism within the neo-fascist milieu. Mobilised by conspiracy theories with apocalyptic subtexts, the far right reliance on improvisational millennialism demonstrates the implicit danger of the increased incursion of stigmatized knowledge into the cultural mainstream. This critical review serves to show that despite being typified by a syncretic bricolage of unconnected ideas and traditions, improvisational millennialism is reflective of both social and political realities. i Acknowledgements There are many people who have helped my work to develop and given the timespan in which these works have been published the institutional support received in the University of Derby has been extensive. With that said, I would like to highlight a small number of individuals whose contributions have been particularly notable. My supervisors, Dr Phil Henry and Professor Paul Weller have made a number of crucial interventions in the writing of the critical review that have ensured that it has remained focussed and responds to the stipulated requirements – these may seem obvious requirements but without their guidance I am unsure if I would have realise it. A number of line managers have been instrumental in making the research and the necessary time and financial support for the PhD by Published Works possible. Lynn Senior was a vital help in encouraging me to make time for my own research in the first place whilst Professor Philip Hodgson and Dr Charlotte Hargreaves have been invaluable in providing the necessary support. Beyond the institution, there is a long list of conference organisers, article reviewers and book editors who have been vital in the development of these works. Among these the following have all provided great encouragement – whether they were aware of it or not: Dr Shelley Trower, Dr David Robertson, Dr John Walliss, and Dr Susan Maret. I am also very grateful to Peter Bonnell, exhibitions curator at Derby Quad and the artist Joey Holder for giving me the opportunity to take many of the ideas presented here into public settings. None of this would have been possible without my family. My parents, Ben and Angela never wavered in their belief in me and it is a deep regret that my mum has not lived to see the completion of this phase of my career. My children, Luke, Ben, and Poppy have all shown enormous reserves of patience whilst I have become lost in new ideas, in writing, and when I have disappeared off to conferences or pursuing research leads. I am eternally grateful for their love and support. ii Introduction This thesis will make the case, through this critical review and the published works submitted, that conspiracy theories and millennial beliefs are expressions of collective hopes and fears. This has been well established in the case of millennialism but the thesis will draw on the works of Michael Barkun to demonstrate that conspiracy theories are a related phenomenon and are similarly expressive of communities’ outlooks. Further, whilst these may take benign forms there are contained within them the potential for fuelling divisive and extreme views of society; in conspiracy theories’ division between ‘them’ (the conspirators) and ‘us’ (the conspired against) and in millennialism’s identification of ‘the chosen people’ and the ‘remnant’ (those outside the chosen community). The following critical review therefore presents the case for considering current conspiracy theories and millennialist narratives as reflections of developments in contemporary social and political discourse. Further, what is claimed here is that Michael Barkun’s concept of improvisational