Like the ancient wisdom tradition of esotericism, knowledge claims associated with conspiracism are performed inside a “deviant” cultural space and involve constructing a counter-world that opposes an official world. Timothy Melley brings i…Bibliography
Asprem, Egil. “The Magical Theory of Politics: Meme Magic, the Cult of Kek, and How to Topple an Egregore.” Forthcoming in Nova Religio.
Asprem, Egil and Asbjørn Dyrendal. “Conspirituality Reconsidered: How Surprising and How…[^7]: Timothy Melley, The Covert Sphere: Secrecy, Fiction, and the National Security State (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2012), 36–7. Here Melley is referring to postmodern society, not early modern Europe, but this astute characte…
Asbjørn Dyrendal
scholar · 3 mentions across 1 reading
In this course
Dyrendal is a scholar of esotericism and religious studies who co-authored work on "conspirituality"—the fusion of conspiracy thinking with New Age spirituality. The course readings cite him (alongside Egil Asprem) to theorize how contemporary spiritual and esoteric communities generate alternative knowledge systems that mirror and reinforce conspiratorial worldviews, particularly relevant to understanding how AI discourse intersects with occult and fringe belief networks. His work helps map the cultural and epistemological terrain where technology narratives, mystical thinking, and counter-institutional politics converge.
Mentioned in 1 reading
Appears alongside
People mentioned in the same passages — sorted by co-occurrence weight.
Egil Asprem 3Christopher Partridge 2Michael Barkun 2Charlotte Ward 2David Voas 2Timothy Melley 2Colin Campbell 1David William Bates 1Fiona Broome 1Frederic Bartlett 1Jovan Byford 1Justin Caffier 1Karen Michelle Barad 1Kennet Granholm 1Nelson Mandela 1Nima Bassiri 1Taylor Beck 1Abby Ohlheiser 1Caitlin Dewey 1Hillary Clinton 1James Webb 1