Conspiracy functions as a power play by the powerless to be seen.

Evidence

For these reasons, Bridle (2018) provocatively suggests that conspiracy can be “the extreme resort of the powerless” (205), or in the terms of this book, a longing to “be seen” and rise above the haze of uncertainty enveloping financialized life. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 331

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth checking whether framing conspiracy as ‘the extreme resort of the powerless’ traffics in exactly the romanticization the reader suspects the counter-speculation chapter of.
• XREF: Echoes the Frankfurt School materials (Horkheimer and Adorno on anti-Semitic conspiracy victims) and the manipulated-fascist-type notes. — connects to: Conspiracy theories give concrete form to a group’s sensed loss of power — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 58; Lost status and powerlessness, read as elite conspiracy, drive scapegoating conspiracism — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 140; Conspiracy theories are accessible ways to speak truth to power — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 842 (+2 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Conspiracy theories give concrete form to a group’s sensed loss of power — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 58; Lost status and powerlessness, read as elite conspiracy, drive scapegoating conspiracism — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 140; Conspiracy theories are accessible ways to speak truth to power — Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories, 842 (+2 more)