This article will assess the nature and role of conspiracy theories in shaping knowledge and information flows in the context of online discourse. It will do so by tracing the relationship between the space of the nation, which is increasingly protected by border walls preventing movement and allegedly protecting the nation, and that of online communities, which are increasingly isolated epistemic spaces promoting their own ‘truth’. The growing impulse towards the securitization of the nation is frequently accompanied by an aspiration towards its cultural, social and, often, ethnic conformity. What is progressively emerging is a gradual but relentless erosion of older cultural and social models as they are replaced by conspiracy theories, which in themselves propose a vision of reality avowedly alternative to that of the master narratives originating from the establishment. In this sense, as an increasingly popular conspiracy theory, the Great Replacement is presented in this article as a key narrative of an alternative social model, as it advances an idea of the nation as a macro gated community which excludes those who are represented discursively, in ethnic, cultural and social terms, as the Other. Throughout the article, conspiracy theories are analysed using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis, which, in itself, views discourse as both re ecting and shaping unequal relations of power
Reconfiguring Borders: The Role of Conspiracy Theories in Shaping Knowledge and Information Flows in Online Discourse
Demata, Massimiliano
2025-01-01
Abstract
This article will assess the nature and role of conspiracy theories in shaping knowledge and information flows in the context of online discourse. It will do so by tracing the relationship between the space of the nation, which is increasingly protected by border walls preventing movement and allegedly protecting the nation, and that of online communities, which are increasingly isolated epistemic spaces promoting their own ‘truth’. The growing impulse towards the securitization of the nation is frequently accompanied by an aspiration towards its cultural, social and, often, ethnic conformity. What is progressively emerging is a gradual but relentless erosion of older cultural and social models as they are replaced by conspiracy theories, which in themselves propose a vision of reality avowedly alternative to that of the master narratives originating from the establishment. In this sense, as an increasingly popular conspiracy theory, the Great Replacement is presented in this article as a key narrative of an alternative social model, as it advances an idea of the nation as a macro gated community which excludes those who are represented discursively, in ethnic, cultural and social terms, as the Other. Throughout the article, conspiracy theories are analysed using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis, which, in itself, views discourse as both re ecting and shaping unequal relations of powerI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
