studies, reframes conspiracy theory as an acceptable response to the postmodern world, the decline of Western society, mass surveillance, late capitalist economy, and neoliberal globalization. Scholars such as Knight, Fenster, Melley, and G…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…[^42]: Jovan Byford, Conspiracy Theories: A Critical Introduction (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 19. For an academic overview of conspiracy theories see Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary …
Jovan Byford
scholar · 3 mentions across 1 reading
In this course
Jovan Byford is a scholar of conspiracy theories who provides critical frameworks for understanding them as cultural and epistemological phenomena rather than mere pathology. His work appears in the course readings as a foundational reference for theorizing how conspiracy thinking emerges from legitimate responses to surveillance, economic precarity, and institutional distrust—concerns central to understanding how AI and algorithmic systems feed into contemporary conspiratorial and esoteric worldviews. The course draws on Byford's analytical approach to situate conspiracy as a symptom of postmodern uncertainty rather than individual delusion, making it legible within discussions of information systems, power, and collective meaning-making.
Mentioned in 1 reading
Appears alongside
People mentioned in the same passages — sorted by co-occurrence weight.
Michael Barkun 2Fredric Jameson 2Timothy Melley 2Asbjørn Dyrendal 1Christopher Partridge 1Colin Campbell 1David William Bates 1Egil Asprem 1Fiona Broome 1Frederic Bartlett 1Justin Caffier 1Karen Michelle Barad 1Kennet Granholm 1Nelson Mandela 1Nima Bassiri 1Taylor Beck 1Fenster 1Gulyas 1Hofstadter 1Karl Popper 1Knight 1Melley 1Aaron John Gulyas 1Cary Nelson 1Daniel Pipes 1David Brion Davis 1Lawrence Grossberg 1Mark Fenster 1Peter Knight 1Richard Hofstadter 1