Conflicts Over Conspiracy Theories

Project Information

CONSPIRATIONS

Grant agreement ID: 101077810

DOI

10.3030/101077810

EC signature date 2 May 2023

Start date 1 August 2023

End date 31 July 2028

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 499 946,00

EU contribution

€ 1 499 946,00

Coordinated by

LUNDS UNIVERSITET
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CONSPIRATIONS (Conflicts Over Conspiracy Theories)

Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2026-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Since the rise of populist movements across Europe and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories have become a highly polarizing topic. Perceived as a major threat to liberal democracies and social cohesion, conspiracy theories are increasingly subjected to policy-making efforts, at both the EU and national levels.

It is clear, that today, conspiracy theories have become a central issue not only to the people who propagate or endorse contested truths, but also to those who fear their consequences and design initiatives to push back against the ‘post-truth’ era. Significantly, and perhaps paradoxically, both people who endorse conspiracy theories and those who counter them express strong convictions that their views and actions are an attempt to defend democracy and protect democratic values. Across Europe, many NGOs are dedicated to preventing and combating conspiracy theories (e.g. the EU’s DisinfoLab, Poland’s Demagog.org or Estonia’s Propastop). Yet, at the same time, both sides have been accusing each other either of instigeting violence and populism, or working against the freedom of expression and censorship. This specific tension suggests that there is an urgent need to open a new chapter in the study of conspiracy theories and ask why these conflicts are happening right now. Thus in this project we are examining what Conflicts Over Conspiracy Theories mean for European societies today.

To achieve our objectives we are undertaking ethnographic studies in Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Sweden and EU institutions. The comparative approach will shed new light on how the distinct experiences, structures and organisations of European societies impact the ways in which conflicts over truth are unfolding across the East-West divide.

As such, CONSPIRATIONS will not only unveil the complex mechanisms behind the understudied aspects of these conflicts over truth, but will also contribute to understanding how all of the different national and regional approaches to conspiracy theories, in all their cultural diversity, can be used to formulate new ways to mitigate conflicts over truth and limit potential threats that conspiracy theories might pose to democratic governance and social cohesion

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first months of the project were dedicated to setting up the project team, selecting researchers that will join the project. This is important because each researcher is responsible for carrying out their own individual sub-project analysing how conflicts over conspiracy theories unfold in Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Belgiu,Sweden and Germany. COllectively we also will research these issues at the EU level.
In the first stages of the project we have been reviewing literature concerning disinformation and conspiracy theories in Europe. This is particularly important for those team members who are new to the topic, in particular PhD students. However, as our team members represent different disciplines we also benefit from collaborating and learning about different disciplinary approaches to the topic, and how diverse the state of the art is between disciplines. We consider this to be an added value in our project.
Another important task that we have been completing is a mapping exercise in which we identify key state and non-state actors responsible for countering disinformation and conspiracy theories. This is important, because while there has been a lot of research conducted on actors who spread disinformation and conspiracy theories we still know very little about actors who counter disinformation and take a difficult task of defending 'the truth'. Through our mapping excersises we have an ability to not only identify how different states and their communities approach the problem but also what are the simmilarities and differences across the countries.
Using results from the mapping excersise all team members identified key actors with who they are currently undertaking interviews. These conversations allow to learn about the key issues that each country studied in the projects is facing in regard to conspriacy theories and disinformation. These interviews will form foundation for the next stages of our work, when we move to study specific conspiracy theories and movements propagating them.
Between 6-7 November an International Conference with approximately delagates took place in Lund University. It included one day workshop for PhD students and two days of panels with presentations regarding conflicts over trurth.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

To date, researchers have not dedicated much attention to the Disinfo Sector. There is almost no research done concerning social, political or economic structures that shape the struggle against the disinformation. Our project aims to counter this ommission.
Our project, to date, is based on the premise that the study of this group is important both for the studies of disinformation, as well as the studies of democratic processes. While we know a lot about people who spread disinformation, we know very little about those who counter the lies. Our priject offers the examination of the labour of defending the truth, recognising that the structure of such work influences the outcomes of anti-conspiracy theories initiatives. Critical assessments of countering or preventing disinformation often attributes its success or failure to the qualities of specific interventions, yet neglect the daily realities, structural frameworks as well as ideologies that influence the work of people who counter disinformation. Who counters disinformation, in what capacity, with whose mandate, in what role, with what resources, for what reasons, matters for the ways in which disinformation is defined and whose lies are countered. Yet in the contemporary discussions of disinformation all those issues remain invisible. To study the world of people who populate the this specific Sector is important because they constitute the fight against the disinformation: from the way it is conceptualised to the way it is tackled. It is also important because discussions about the sector start to be weaponised in political conflicts, with populist actors increasingly accusing the sector of working against the freedom of expression, policing the thought, or being ‘woke’.