On Typologies of Paranoia

On the last blog post I made, I attempted to define what I mean when I talk about conspiracy theories, and I ended up arguing that for the purposes of my research I was defining conspiracy theories as: explanatory forms of rhetoric that respond to the problem of evil by externalising the locus of the harm to an imagined conspiratorial other outside of the community that is to be punished and purged to ensure the community’s continued survival. This is, I think, a good definition that gets to the core of what is rhetorically compelling about conspiratorial narratives, but it still leaves a lot of scope for variation. What I mean by this is that this definition would cover many diverse types of narratives that vary radically in scope, themes, content, and presentation and which arrive from a dizzying array of time-periods, cultures, and traditions. It is a very, very, broad definition to put it simply. <a href="https://medium.com/@newordersblog1919/on-typologies-of-paranoia-a0d4d82317f9">Visit Now</a>