A new conspiracism form drops explanation and aims at disorientation.

Evidence

In contrast, the new conspiracism is conspiracy without the theory. It sheds explanation, and it sheds political theory. We draw the distinction between classic conspiracy and the new conspiracism starkly not because every conspiracist claim falls neatly into one category or the other but rather because conspiracist claims that shed explanation and political theory have distinctive and destructive political effects: disorientation and delegitimation. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 49

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the book’s core distinction: ‘conspiracy without the theory.’
• XREF: connects to: New conspiracism drops explanation and evidence in favor of bare assertion — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 14; New conspiracism uniquely harms democracy through both delegitimation and disorientation — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 32; New conspiracism lacks ideology and political theory, producing only disorientation — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 73 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• New conspiracism lacks ideology and political theory, producing only disorientation #corroborates (0.94) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 73
• New conspiracism is a closed system that abandons explanation entirely #corroborates (0.92) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 109
• New conspiracism dissolves shared perceptions of political reality #corroborates (0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 373
• New conspiracism is monologic and untethered to shared facts and experience #corroborates (0.90) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 279
• New conspiracism abandons evidence while classic conspiracism theorizes it #corroborates (0.88)
• Disorienting targets, not explaining truth, is the conspiracists’ intended payoff #expands (0.88) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 94
• New conspiracism floats allegations disconnected from observable reality #corroborates (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 64
• Only new conspiracism causes both delegitimation and disorientation simultaneously #expands (0.72)