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Title details for A Lot of People Are Saying by Nancy L. Rosenblum - Available

A Lot of People Are Saying

The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy

by Nancy L. Rosenblum
Russell Muirhead
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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This audiobook narrated by Katherine Fenton reveals how the new conspiracists are undermining democracy—and explains what can be done about it Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new—conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. In A Lot of People Are Saying, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum show how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it. Classic conspiracy theory insists that things are not what they seem and gathers evidence—especially facts ominously withheld by official sources—to tease out secret machinations. The new conspiracism is different. There is no demand for evidence, no dots revealed to form a pattern, no close examination of shadowy plotters. Dispensing with the burden of explanation, the new conspiracism imposes its own reality through repetition (exemplified by the Trump catchphrase "a lot of people are saying") and bare assertion ("rigged!"). The new conspiracism targets democratic foundations—political parties and knowledge-producing institutions. It makes it more difficult to argue, persuade, negotiate, compromise, and even to disagree. Ultimately, it delegitimates democracy. Filled with vivid examples, A Lot of People Are Saying diagnoses a defining and disorienting feature of today's politics and offers a guide to responding to the threat.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 16, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780691193465
      • File size: 196489 KB
      • Duration: 06:49:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Rosenblum has a powerful message to deliver, and Katherine Fenton's narration may not hinder it, but it doesn't quite help it either. While her voice, with its slight rasp, does entice listeners, a condescension and knowingness in her tone may alienate even the listener who deeply values Rosenblum's research. Rosenblum explores the roots and ways that conspiracism (a new level of conspiracy thinking) has emerged in the last few decades and how it has been embodied and emboldened by new media, pundits, and even presidents. From Pizzagate to QAnon, such conspiracies undermine the very core of democratic practices in the U.S. and beyond, contributing to increasing instability and distrust in the world. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
    • Kirkus

      February 15, 2019
      An analysis of how the nature of conspiracy charges and the possibility of confirming and refuting them have changed so radically in the Trump era.Muirhead (Democracy and Politics/Dartmouth Coll.; The Promise of Party in a Polarized Age, 2014, etc.) and Rosenblum (Ethics in Politics and Government/Harvard Univ.; Good Neighbors: The Democracy of Everyday Life in America, 2016, etc.) note that the Declaration of Independence was a call for the Colonies to unite in resistance against a conspiracy of British subjugation and that Americans have continued to feed on conspiracy theories since the nation's founding. Occasionally, those theories have even proven true, confirmed by a process that resembles detective work as well as journalistic enterprise. One of the things that distinguishes "the new conspiracism" is that it is "conspiracy without theory. It sheds explanation, and it sheds political theory." These ever present conspiracies, often launched or spread by the current president, are more like viral rumors on how everything and everyone--Democrats, the press, the "deep state," the FBI, the special prosecutor--are conspiring to thwart the will of the people and undercut the authority of the elected official. The authors' closing warning quotes Trump: "There's something going on that's really, really bad. And we better get smart, and we better get tough, or we're not going to have much of a country left." Where they disagree is on the problem and the solution. So much of the new conspiracism is "sheer absurdity" and an "assault on reality." They see the strength of the two-party system as essential to that process. When the president is a member of one party in name only and consistently demonizes what is usually considered the loyal opposition, we are left with a "malignant normality."Some might disagree with the authors' disparagement of populism and idealism toward two-party politics, but they are convincing in their argument that there is something different afoot in the world of conspiracy and that danger lies ahead if we don't confront it with truth and action.

      COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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