Conference on Conspiracy Theories and Leftwing Populism

TÜBINGEN | MARCH 10-12, 2022

The strong connection between populism and conspiracy theory has frequently been stressed in recent years. Many populist leaders employ conspiracist rhetoric and followers of populist parties and movements are often more susceptible to believe in conspiracy theories than others. However, the relationship between the two has not yet been comprehensively explored. The few studies (for example, by Paul Taggart or Mark Fenster) that attempt a general theorization of the connection consider conspiracy theories a secondary feature or a non-necessary element of populism. Conspiracy theories, they suggest, occur in many but not in all populist movements. Other scholars (for example, Ruth Wodak or Karin Priester) have argued that there is a special affinity between right-wing populism and conspiracy theory.

The significance of conspiracy theories for left-wing populism, however, remains especially understudied. Do conspiracy theories really occur less frequently in left-wing populist movements, and, if this is the case, why? Or is this a false impression caused by the focus on right-wing variants in the recent scholarship on populism? Does its Marxist heritage “immunize” left-wing populism against conspiracy theories? Or is left-wing populism at least in some variants a conspiracist deviation of nuanced social analysis in that it tends to blame people instead of structures? What is the content of conspiracy theories found in left-wing populism, what plots and groups of conspirators do they focus on? How and in what contexts are such conspiracy theories articulated by populist leaders? What are the parallels to and differences from conspiracy theories in right-wing populism? Might the tendency to conspiracy theorizing be cut across the left/right distinction? The conference focused on addressing these and related questions.