The Ordinary Affects of Conspiracy Thinking

Conspiratorial thinking is one of the most troublesome and high-profile phenomena of our time. Theories circulating in this realm have a remarkable hold on their supporters; sometimes leading to life-endangering decisions, such as
refusing vaccination. In intimate relationships this phenomenon is a daily topic of concern, as people witness intimate others slip into paranoid distorted realities, while suspicions of bad thinking now permeate daily evaluations of others. However, scholarly work on this phenomenon has mainly concentrated on its large-scale expression, while seeking to draw the outline of an essence of conspiracy theories and their macro explanations (a 'posttruth' age, the impact of social media etc). This project directly addresses the neglected everyday aspects of conspiratorial thinking by seeking to understand how conspiracies are produced, encountered, performed and felt as part of everyday life. By working with people with different relations with conspiracy thinking supplemented with online observation, this project will generate new knowledge about the ways attachments to conspiracy theories emerge from, proliferate through, and make a difference to daily life. The conceptual and methodological frameworks will allow this research to draw out the affective and emotional facet of conspiratorial thinking. Centring on alternative discourses on vaccines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this research will primarily rely on interviews. Additional creative method will allow the project to accentuate affective intensities that arise alongside experiences of conspiratorial thinking. The
result will be new knowledge about how conspiracy thinking happens and becomes part of people's everyday life.