| A 'culture of conspiracy' has spread across the west, with its paranoid suspicions about hidden alliances between Muslims, the state, political parties, and/or research institutes apparently markedly related to rightist-populist political discourse in the Netherlands. Relying on qualitative and quantitative research, respectively, this project aims to study 1) the main narratives, themes and topics of contemporary conspiracy culture in the Netherlands and 2) how affinity with conspiracy discourse can be explained. We hypothesize that particularly those who find themselves unstuck from the religious and politico-ideological pillarized moorings of the past turn to conspiracy culture for solace from modernity?s cultural discontents. |
