tion>
A Culture of Conspiracy
COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN RELIGION AND SOCIETY
Mark Juergensmeyer, Editor
1 Redemptive Encounters: Three Modern Styles in the Hindu Tradition, by Lawrence A. Babb
2 Saints and Virtues, edited by John Stratton Hawley
3 Utopias in Conflict: Religion and Nationalism in Modern India, by Ainslee T. Embree
4 Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, by Karen McCarthy Brown
5 The New Cold War? Religious Nationalism Confronts the Secular State, by Mark Juergensmeyer
6 Pious Passion: The Emergence of Modern Fundamentalism in the United States and Iran, by Martin Riesebrodt, translated by Don Reneau
7 Devi: Goddess of India, edited by John Stratton Hawley and Donna Marie Wulff
8 Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture, by Lawrence A. Babb
9 The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder, by Bassam Tibi
10 Leveling Crowds: Ethno-Nationalist Conflicts and Collective Violence in South Asia, by Stanley J. Tambiah
11 The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia, by Michael A. Sells
12 China’s Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society, by Richard Madsen
13 Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, by Mark Juergensmeyer
14 Imagining Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and Greek Rebirth, by Gananath Obeyesekere
15 A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, by Michael Barkun
16 Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State, from Christian Militias to al Qaeda, by Mark Juergensmeyer
A Culture of Conspiracy
Apocalyptic Visions
in Contemporary America
Second Edition
Michael Barkun
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley•Los Angeles•London
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2013 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barkun, Michael.
A culture of conspiracy: apocalyptic visions in contemporary America / Michael Barkun. — Second Edition.
p. cm. — (Comparative studies in religion and society; 15)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-27682-6 (pbk., alk. paper)
eISBN 978-0-520-95652-0
1. Millennialism—United States. 2. Conspiracies—United States. 3. Human-alien encounters—United States. I. Title.
BL503.2.B372013
306’.1—dc232012051215
Manufactured in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with its commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy.
For Natalie Rose
Contents
Preface
Preface to the First Edition
1.The Nature of Conspiracy Belief
2.Millennialism, Conspiracy, and Stigmatized Knowledge
3.New World Order Conspiracies I: The New World Order and the Illuminati
4.New World Order Conspiracies II: A World of Black Helicopters
5.UFO Conspiracy Theories, 1975–1990
6.UFOs Meet the New World Order: Jim Keith and David Icke
7.Armageddon Below
8.UFOs and the Search for Scapegoats I: Anti-Catholicism and Anti-Masonry
9.UFOs and the Search for Scapegoats II: Anti-Semitism among the Aliens
10.September 11 Conspiracies: The First Phase
11.September 11 Conspiracies: The Second Phase
12.Conspiracy Theories about Barack Obama
13.Conspiracists and Violence
14.Apocalyptic Expectations about the Year 2012
15.Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
The original manuscript of A Culture of Conspiracy was virtually complete in September 2001, when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked. In the time that remained before the manuscript had to be submitted, I added chapter 10 (along with interpolations of brief passages in some other chapters), which describes the reactions of what might be termed “professional” conspiracy theorists. But the book went to press well before the 9/11 conspiracy subculture had developed.
That would not prove to be, of course, the only development on the conspiracy scene over the next decade or so. Rather, the following ten years witnessed conspiracism
