ABSTRACT
Conspiracism is not a set of rational political positions that can be easily explained by examining their ideological content. Nor can it be entirely accounted for by analysing the vested interests it serves, or the countercultural energies it sometimes channels. Conspiracy theorists are driven not only by beliefs but also by desire. Conventional approaches to the phenomenon of conspiracism rarely take desire into account, and in effect they often inadvertently pathologise conspiracy theories as merely the products of delusional thinking. But psychoanalysis and critical theory provide concepts that can help explain why conspiracist narratives came to be so popular.
