Conspiracy Theories in Contemporary Italy: Cultural Production and Political Uses

This volume explores the role played by conspiracy narratives in the contemporary Italian political, cultural, and social context, through a series of case studies. It begins with a historical and genealogical account of the troubled success of Italian conspiracy thinking from the early 1970s to the present day. Among the issues examined are the unclear division between legitimate/illegitimate forms of knowledge, the use of conspiracy as a confrontational discursive device, the emergence of moral panic, and the stabilization of information outlets against dominant official explanations. The analysis covers the case of a well-known national survey, and a digital platform specializing in conspiracy storytelling. The second axis of the book concerns the pervasive use of conspiracy as a theory or narrative that currently circulates in various Italian cultural fields: multiculturalism, immigration, and racism; Catholic traditionalism; football fandom; small business economics; and cooking and food. This volume will be of interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, and Italian politics and history. Cover Endorsements Page Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Contributors Introduction 1 “We Know, and We Have the Evidence”: Dietrologia—An Italian Turn in Conspiracy Theory 1.1 “I Know. But I don’t have any Evidence” 1.2 After 1974: Was the Strategy of Tension Over? 1.3 An Italian Mystery 1.4 Conspiracy Theory with and Against Behindology 2 Boycotts, Mockery, and Leaders Under Attack: On the Uses of “Conspiracy” in Political and Journalistic Discourse 2.1 Where the Conspiracy is (Talked About) 2.2 The Two Decades of a Government Born and Ended by Evoking Conspiracy 2.3 The Mockery of Conspiracy Theory and its Revenge 2.4 “Please Explain the Event but without using a Conspiracy Theory”: The Case of the Assault on the CGIL Headquarters 2.5 The “Encirclement Syndrome” and Some Concluding Remarks 3 Surveying the “Irrational”: An Analysis of the Debate on the Outcomes of the Censis 2021 Questionnaire 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Research Design 3.3 The Discussion on Facebook about the Censis and SWG Questionnaires 3.4 Conclusion 4 “Now and Always Against the Dominant Narrative”: Alternative News Reporting, Conspiracy Ideation, and Epistemic Justifications on “The Citizens’ Television” 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Conspiracy Ideation as Meaning-Making Practice 4.3 Epistemic Competition in the Limbo of Contested Knowledge 4.4 Citizens’ Television Between Conspiracy and Populism 4.5 Forms of Epistemic Capital 4.6 Epistemic Contestations 4.7 Conclusion 5 “At Risk of Extinction”: Immigration, National Identity, and Global Class Conflict According to “Population Replacement Conspiracy Theory” in Contemporary Italy 5.1 Introduction 5.2 A Recent Institutional Slip 5.3 The Basic Features of Population Replacement Conspiracy Theories 5.4 A Short Genealogy of Current Population Replacement Conspiracy Theories 5.5 Eurabia 5.6 The “Great Replacement”, the “Kalergi Plan”, and the “Soros Plan” 5.7 Just a Slip? 5.8 Concluding Remarks 6 Satan’s Ways are Endless: Catholic Restorationists between Peter’s Usurper Syndrome and QAnon 6.1 The Resurgence of the Religious Conspiracy 6.2 Rome’s Enemies Live Across the Ocean 6.3 “Conservatives”, Traditionalists, and “Restorers”: A Guiding Framework 6.4 “Sons of Light” and “Sons of Darkness”, Deep State, Deep Church, and QAnon: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò Writes to Donald Trump 6.5 The Bergoglian Metastasis Originates in the Vatican II Cancer: The Underground Bridge between Catholic Restorers and QAnon 6.6 A Case Study: Facebook Groups of “Restorers” 6.7 Conclusion: Are “Restorers” a Splinter Mad? 7 Football Conspiracies: The Prisma Investigation and Fans’ Online Discourse 7.1 Football Conspiracy as an Identity Strategy 7.2 Supporters and their Forms of Expression 7.3 The Prisma Investigation and the Research Methodology 7.4 Discussion: Conspiracy Actors in Fans’ Discourse 7.5 Conclusion 8 “Watch your Back when Dealing with them”! Conspiracy Tales Among Small Entrepreneurs in Northern Italy 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Conspiracy Theories and Anthropology 8.3 The Context and the Background 8.4 The Conspiratorial Tales: An Anthropological Interpretation 8.5 Concluding Remarks 9 Disgusting Conspiracies: Frame Analysis of Insect Invasion Fears in the Italian Gastronomic Field 9.1 Conspiracy Theories and Banal Gastro-Nationalism 9.2 The Entry of Insect-Based Foods into the Italian Gastronomic Field 9.3 Methodology 9.4 Frame Analysis of Fears of Insect Invasion 9.5 Conclusion: From Disgust to Gastro-Conspiracies Index