Fall 2023 Populism & Religion Seminar – Goldman

NB: This event had originally been scheduled for a different date before being rescheduled for 27 November 2023.

On Monday, 27 November, 2023 (16:15–18:00) on Zoom, Dr. Aaron James Goldman will give a webinar presentation open to the public, titled "The Truth of Implausible Conspiracy Theories: Myth, Taboo, and Critique of Power."

Abstract:
Scholars have observed overlap between conspiracy theories and cultural narratives or myths. Prompted by recent journalists and cultural critics who have remarked that some examples of misinformation, or even implausible conspiracy theories, have a “core of emotional truth” or are “spiritually true” despite being “crazy in [their] specifics,” Goldman’s presentation will take the comparison between conspiracy theories and myths or cultural narratives seriously. He asks: How can a myth be true, if not literally, if not in its specifics? Goldman hypothesizes that one function of conspiracy theories in modernity might be to wield accessible markers of good and evil from myth and religion (including longstanding cultural taboos) in order to critique forms of power that lie beyond the scope of understanding – not to mention the ability to substantially challenge – by parties aggrieved at the perceived lack of control they have of their own lives.

Dr. Aaron James Goldman (PhD, 2021) is a research fellow in Philosophy of Religion at Lund University's Centre for Theology and Religious Studies. He is a core researcher for the project Beyond Truth and Lies and the program At the End of the World.