Dr Michael Butter:
From Witchcraft to the White House – A Short History of Conspiracy Theory

Ours seem to be the age of conspiracy theory. Suspicions about secret plots by elites or other evil plots abound and have become politically meaningful through their incorporation in populist and extremist discourses that are becoming ever more mainstream. Conspiracy theories, however, have a long history, and for centuries they were far more popular and influential than now. The talk will trace the history of conspiracism from its emergence in the Early Modern period, via its secularization in the 18th century and stigmatization after World War II to the present. It will ask if conspiracy theories are currently being relegitimized in the western world, address the role of the internet for contemporary conspiracism, and discuss why conspiracy theories never lost their status as official knowledge in some countries and regions.


Dr Michael Butter is Professor of American Studies at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He has published widely on various aspects of conspiracism. His latest books are Populism and Conspiracy Theory (2026), and co-edited Conspiracy Theories in the European Digital Sphere (2026). A revised and expanded edition of The Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories (that he co-edited) will be published in 2027.