Digital communication technologies enable the exchange, adaptation and adoption of conspiracy theories at an unprecedented speed and scale, facilitating the creation of counter-publics connected by a propensity for mis- and disinformation. The REDACT project will analyse how digitalisation shapes the form, content and consequences of conspiracy theories, including online sociality and offline actions and effects.
Rather than see digitalisation as a process that has universal outcomes, or conspiracy theories as the same over space and time, REDACT considers online conspiracy theories and counter-publics in different European regions (Western Europe, Central Europe, the Baltics and the Balkans) in order to make robust and nuanced recommendations about conspiracy theories – a particularly durable form of mis- and disinformation – for policy makers, media regulators, fact-checking and extremism-monitoring organisations, as well as the internet companies themselves.
KEYWORDS:
conspiracy theories, disinformation, digital ethnography, fact-checking, cultural studies
CONSORTIUM
- Project Leader: Clare Birchall, King’s College London, English Department, United Kingdom, e-mail
- Michael Butter, University of Tuebingen, American Studies,Germany, e-mail
- Elzbieta Drazkiewicz, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute for Sociology, Slovakia
- Mari-Liis Madisson, University of Tartu, Department of Semiotics, Estonia
- Nebojša Blanuša, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Science, Croatia
COOPERATION PARTERS
- Banja Luka, University of Banja Luka
- Oriana Ivkovic Novokmet, GONG/Faktograf
- Miodrag Suvakovic, (FMK) Faculty of Media and Culture
- Harald Weilnbock, Cultures Interactive
- Hanne Wurzel, Federal Agency for Civic Education
- Uli Jager, Berghof Foundation
- Joe Collenette, ISD Global
- Urmo Soonvald, Delfi,
- Magdalena Biernat, Centrum Cyfrowe
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Project website
- Publications:
Birchall C., Knight P., Has Conspiracy Theory Run out of Steam?, Theory Conspiracy, Routledge, 2023, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003375005-12
Birchall C., Knight P., A Perfect Storm: Covid-19 Conspiracy Theories in the United States, Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, Routledge, 2023, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003330769-31/perfect-storm-clare-birchall-peter-knight
Butter M., Knight P., Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, Introduction, ed., Routledge, 2023, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003330769/covid-conspiracy-theories-global-perspective-michael-butter-peter-knight
Butter M., Knight P., Bridging the great divide: Conspiracy theory research for the 21st century, Diogenes, Cambridge University Press, 2024, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/diogenes/article/abs/bridging-the-great-divide-conspiracy-theory-research-for-the-21st-century/11D78480B857154E224E1738DD3ECB90
Butter M., Die psychologische Forschung aus Sicht der Kulturgeschichte, Die Psychologie der Verschwörungstheorien: Von dunklen Mächten sonderbar belogen, Hogrefe, 2023, https://www.hogrefe.com/de/shop/die-psychologie-der-verschwoerungstheorien-97657.html
Butter M., Conspiracy Theories as Populist Counter-Narratives, Subversive Semantics in Political and Cultural Discourse, transcript Verlag, 2023, https://www.transcript-verlag.de/chunk_detail_seite.php?doi=10.14361%2F9783839461778-002
Butter M., Covid Conspiracy Theories in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, Routledge, 2023, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003330769-21/covid-conspiracy-theories-germany-austria-switzerland-michael-butter
Butter M., Knight P., Covid Conspiracy Theories in Global Perspective, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003330769/covid-conspiracy-theories-global-perspective-michael-butter-peter-knight
Madisson M-L., Ventsel A., Lotman M., Varjatud märgid ja salaühingud. Vandenõuteooriate tähendusmaailm, Postimees, 2023, https://www.postimehekirjastus.ee/raamatud/aimekirjandus/andreas-ventsel-mari-liis-madisson-ja-mihhail-lotman-varjatud-margid-ja-salauhingud-1
Butter M., Hatzikidi K., Jeitler C., et al. (eds) Populism and Conspiracy Theory: Case Studies and Theoretical Perspectives, London & New York: Routledge, 2024, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003474272
Blanuša N., “Teorije zavjera”. In Hrvatski birači – 30 godina političkog ponašanja i mišljenja, eds. K. Bovan, D. Širinić, V. Raos. Zagreb: Fakultet političkih znanosti, 2024. pp. 173-199. ISBN:978-953-8174-21-6. https://www.croris.hr/crosbi/publikacija/knjiga/831336 (“Conspiracy Theories” in Croatian Voters – 30 Years of Political Behaviour and Thinking)
Blanuša N., Populism and Conspiracism in Croatia and Their Articulations among Citizens from Left to Right, In Butter M., Hatzikidi K., Jeitler C. (eds) Populism and Conspiracy Theory: Case Studies and Theoretical Perspectives, London & New York: Routledge, 2024. pp. 79-112, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003474272
Jerbić V., “Naslijeđe postmodernizma u eri post-istine: nova inačica krize upravljivosti demokracija In Anali hrvatskog politološkog društva, 21(1), 2024: 221-245. https://doi.org/10.20901/an.21.07 (The Legacy of Postmodernism in the Era of Post-truth: A New Version of the Crisis of Governability of Democracies)
Schilk F., Die Erzählgemeinschaft der Neuen Rechten, Zur politischen Soziologie konservativer Krisennarrative, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839474716
Schilk F., Von der ‘Utopie’ zur ‘Wirklichkeit’. Biografische und gesellschaftliche Konversionsnarrative rechter Renegaten, Kulturwissenschaftliche Zeitschrift 8 (2), 142–173, https://doi.org/10.28937/9783787346561_7
Schilk F., Milchkühe oder Besitzstandswahrer? (Review of Faury, Félicien: Des électeurs ordinaires. Enquête sur la normalisation de l’extrême droite. Paris: Edition Seuil), Soziopolis, 2024, https://www.soziopolis.de/milchkuehe-oder-besitzstandswahrer.html
Schilk F., Widerstand als Marke (Review of Kiess, Johannes/Nattke, Michael 2024: Widerstand über alles. Wie die Freien Sachsen die extreme Rechte mobilisieren. Leipzig: edition überland.) Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen 37 (3), 466-470, https://doi.org/10.1515/fjsb-2024-0042
Start date
1 November 2022
Project duration
36 months
Project budget
€ 1 461 494
Funding organisations
