Message posted on 27/04/2019
CfP: What do we do about conspiracy theories?
Dear colleagues, <br> <br> <br>We hope you will find this CFP interesting. It is an interdisciplinary <br>initiative and we think it might be of special interest for STS'ers. <br>Circulate freely. <br> <br> <br>Kind regards, <br> <br> <br>Ela Drążkiewicz (Maynooth University, Ireland) and Jaron Harambam <br>(University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) <br> <br> <br> <br>*CfP Special Issue and Research Workshop:* <br> <br> <br> <br>*What do we do about conspiracy theories?* <br> <br>*The role of social sciences and humanities in debunking conspiracy <br>theories* <br> <br> <br> <br>Conspiracy theories have moved from the margins of public discourse towards <br>the centers. Many people now use them to make sense of the changing world <br>and its complexifying social structures (e.g. international financial <br>systems, global bodies of governance), tragic events (e.g. terrorist <br>attacks, man-made catastrophes, or natural disasters) or socio-political <br>and economic issues (e.g. security, migration, resources distribution, <br>health care). Importantly, this trend is visible across societies and <br>cultures, transgressing traditional social divisions and classes. <br>Representatives of political and social elites subscribe to some sort of <br>conspiracy theory also deploy ‘alternative facts’ to their own political <br>ends. In spite of earlier assertions that conspiratorial thinking is simply <br>a symptom of paranoia, it becomes more and more clear that this assumption <br>is hard to maintain: everybody can potentially engage with conspiracy <br>theories in some way. <br> <br> <br> <br>This widespread popularity of conspiracy theories has spurred much interest <br>from the academic community. The debate has focused predominantly on <br>analyzing this phenomenon and understanding how the distrust in officially <br>sanctioned knowledge can be explained? At the same time there seems to be <br>an assumed expectation that it is the responsibility of researchers to <br>engage with conspiracy beliefs by debunking them. However, like everything <br>that relates to conspiracy theories, even the subject of debunking is not <br>straightforward. An answer to the question whether researchers should <br>debunk conspiracy theories varies across disciplines and schools, and is <br>closely related to specific ethical codes of conduct, research <br>methodologies, and specific approaches to conspiracy theories. While <br>scholars who study this cultural phenomenon from a non-normative and <br>epistemologically neutral position might wish to refrain from debunking <br>conspiracy theories, others who see conspiracy theories as the irrational, <br>overly suspicious and even dangerous ideas of people who don’t quite <br>understand what is “really” going on, might lean towards the debunking <br>stand. Clearly, the question of how we, as scholars, should approach <br>conspiracy theories appears a divisive element in the burgeoning field of <br>conspiracy theory studies. That is why, with this special issue we want to <br>open up the discussion *whether it is the responsibility of scholars to <br>debunk conspiracy theories?* <br> <br> <br> <br>Since (some of) these theories have real world consequences (growing <br>distrust of mainstream media and politics, increasing societal polarization <br>and hatred towards certain groups, decreasing trust in medicine and <br>science), this is not a mere academic discussion. Indeed, the question of <br>what to do with conspiracy theories, and how to engage with people who <br>propagate them takes on much societal urgency. Can and should we, as <br>scholars, stay “neutral” in these discussions, or do we have a <br>responsibility to debunk conspiracy theories and to help diminish their <br>popularity? <br> <br> <br> <br>For this special issue, we invite scholars representing the variety of <br>disciplines who have been working on conspiracy theories to share their <br>perspective and experiences on this issue. How should we deal with <br>conspiracy theories while conducting research, in our analysis, writing and <br>teaching, but also in our public outreach initiatives? We aim to hear <br>multiple perspectives from different disciplines and geographical locations <br>in order to learn from each other and to start a productive substantial <br>discussion on this highly contested topic. We welcome both theoretical <br>pieces and more empirically grounded essays, but we invite authors to <br>specifically consider following questions: <br> <br> <br> <br>- How is your approach to debunking shaped by your discipline? <br> <br>- Does the topic of the conspiracy theory (e.g. 9/11, Big Pharma, <br>aliens, flat earth etc.) that you are working on matter for the position <br>you take? <br> <br>- Does the (political, economic, social, historical, cultural) <br>context in which conspiracy theories operate matter? <br> <br>- If you argue that conspiracy theories should be debunked, how is <br>this best done, and how should we deal with the people adhering to <br>conspiracy theories? <br> <br>- If you have a different stand, what strategies can you propose for <br>engaging with conspiratorial thinking? <br> <br> <br> <br>We intend to have this special issue published in the multidisciplinary <br>Science, Technology and Human Values journal ( <br>https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/science-technology-human-values#desc <br>ription) <br>who have already expressed interest in our proposal for the special issue, <br>but can only guarantee when prospected contributions are out. <br> <br> <br> <br>In order to facilitate the publication process and foster debate we <br>organize a workshop which will bring contributors together to discuss and <br>get feedback on their work. The workshop will take place at *Maynooth <br>University, Ireland on June 28, 2019.* However, if you'd like to contribute <br>in writing without coming to the workshop, that is possible too. We invite <br>ALL interested people to submit a contribution (essay/empirical article) <br>before the workshop. We will give authors opportunity to improve their work <br>until July 14, after which we will do an internal review. The 8-10 best <br>contributions will go into peer review through ST&HV, who gave us space for <br>6-8 contributions depending on size. Participation in the workshop is thus <br>NO guarantee to be published or even to go into peer-review. <br> <br> <br> <br>Please submit the title of your paper together with an abstract by the 5th <br>of May to Ela and Jaron, the organizers of this special issue: <br>ela.drazkiewicz@mu.ie and j.harambam@uva.nl <br> <br>Please also include information about whether you are available to attend <br>the workshop. <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>*The funding for this workshop has been kindly provided **by the Department <br>of Anthropology, the Department of **Sociology, the Office of the Dean of <br>Social Sciences, **Research Support Office as well as Social Sciences <br>**Institute <br>of Maynooth University* <br>[image: image.png] <br> <br>Dr. Jaron Harambam <br>Postdoctoral researcher at the Fair News Project <br>Institute for Information Law (IViR) / University of Amsterdam <br>Roeterseilandcampus, Building A, 5th Floor, Room A5-10 <br>Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam <br> <br>P.O. BOX: 15514, 1001 NA Amsterdam <br>Tel: +31 20 525 2140 <br>https://amsterdam.academia.edu/JaronHarambam <br> <br>https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=uz8o2i0AAAAJ&hl=en <br>_______________________________________________ <br>EASST's Eurograd mailing list <br>Eurograd (at) lists.easst.net <br>Unsubscribe or edit subscription options: http://lists.easst.net/listinfo.cgi/eurograd-easst.net <br> <br>Meet us via https://twitter.com/STSeasst <br> <br>Report abuses of this list to Eurograd-owner@lists.easst.netview formatted text
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