2019/08/12 by Stéphane J. Baele · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence #Misinformation and Its Impacts #Rhetoric and Communication Studies #Narrative #Teleology #Politics #Construct (python library) #Nazism #Sociology #Key (lock) #Epistemology #Linguistics #Psychology #Social psychology #Political science #Computer security #Computer science #Law #Philosophy
paper · doi:10.1177/0261927x19868494
openalex publication_date 2019/08/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09
This article articulates the concept of “conspiratorial narratives”—defined as stories which integrate a large range of events and archetypal characters from past and present in a single teleological explanation for the alleged suffering of a given social group—and argues that this particular linguistic construct is a key marker of extremist language. Using three different cases to illustrate our theoretical contribution (Nazi propaganda, Rwandan genocidaires’ radio, IS’ messaging), we show that paying attention to conspiratorial narratives leads us to significantly revise classic accounts of violent actors’ language, and provides a better understanding of the link between that language and violence itself—more precisely, why violence happens, how much violence is directed to whom, and when it occurs.