Futures Forum: Brexit: and conspiracy theories

"Are we living in a ‘golden age’ of political conspiracy theories?"

BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Conspiracy Politics

Certainly, these have largely become normalised:
BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, The War for Normal
Futures Forum: How the political fringes became part of the mainstream

This week, Laurie Taylor on Radio 4's Thinking Allowed also took a look at the conspiracy theory:

Conspiracy theories

Thinking Allowed

Conspiracy theories:

Laurie Taylor talks to Thomas Konda, Professor of Political Science at SUNY, Plattsburgh, about the history and changing nature of conspiracy theories. Why have such wild theories overrun America?

Also, Hugo Leal, Methods Fellow at the University of Cambridge discusses the most comprehensive examination of conspiracy theories ever conducted. About 11,500 people were surveyed in a study covered nine countries - the US, Britain (excluding Northern Ireland), Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden and Hungary.

The research found that Trump and Brexit voters were more likely to believe in conspiracy theories than others.

GUESTS
Thomas Milan Konda is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at SUNY Plattsburgh
Hugo Leal at the Cambridge Digital Humanities

READING LIST AND RELATED LINKS
Conspiracies of Conspiracies - How Delusions Have Overrun America by Thomas Milan Konda, (University of Chicago Press, 2019)
Conspiracy and Democracy Project at CRASSH, Cambridge

Thinking Allowed - Conspiracy theories - BBC Sounds
BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, Conspiracy theories

Here's the perspective from the US:
Conspiracies of Conspiracies: How Delusions Have Overrun America, Konda
Conspiracies of Conspiracies: How Delusions Have Overrun America, by Thomas Milan Konda | Times Higher Education (THE)

And from the UK:
Conspiracy & Democracy – CRASSH
Is technology killing democracy? - Cambridge Wireless
Britain is becoming a land of conspiracy theorists - Bagehot

And beyond:
Une enquête d’opinion YouGov montre que le complotisme a cessé d’être un phénomène marginal | Conspiracy Watch
Conspiracy Theories, Brexit, and the Nature of the Present Crisis - Sebastian Schindler - European Consortium for Political Research

And one of the most powerful conspiracy theories of our day centres around Brexit:

Brexit and Trump voters more likely to believe in conspiracy theories, survey shows

One of the largest ever surveys on public belief in conspiracy theories suggests that Brexit and Trump voters are significantly more likely than their political rivals to believe in a range of conspiracy theories
Latest research reveals the extent to which conspiracy theories have become “mainstream rather than marginal beliefs” in a number of Western countries
Global coverage: The Guardian (Esther Addley), The Guardian (Hugo Drochon), The Observer, The Independent, New Statesman, New Atlas, Business Insider, South China Morning Post, Yahoo, MSN, L'Obs, Agencia de Informaciones Mercosur, BBC Newshour, Expresso (1), Expresso (2), University of Cambridge

Findings suggest that a large number of people across the surveyed countries think their governments are “hiding the truth” about immigration. In particular, researchers found that Brexit and Trump voters are significantly more likely to believe in this and a wide range of other conspiracy theories – including that “Muslim immigration to this country is part of a bigger plan to make Muslims a majority”, that “man-made global warming is a hoax”, and that “the truth about the harmful effects of vaccines is being deliberately hidden from the public”.