Breaking the Matrix: Understanding the ‘Hidden Truths’ of Conspiracy Theories Through Narrative Criminology

This paper attempts a narrative criminological engagement with conspiracy theories through a thematic narrative analysis of 31 conspiracist texts taken from a British conspiracy theorist social movement. The paper identifies three core themes in these texts. First, that society is riven by hidden harms which stem from a corrupt elite. Second, that this fallen world is the result of corruption by a demonically evil outsider. Third, it is only through purging this evil that society can return to its peaceful organic past. The paper finds that whilst many of these conspiracist narratives often include critical attacks on the status quo, these critiques are often limited, and obscure systems that evidently produce inequality and harm. Within the texts systemic problems in society are often revealed to originate from the machinations of hidden occult cabals with purely evil motivations. In this formulation society's problems thus do not come from structural contradictions or systems of power as such, but from specific anthropomorphised evil actors. This narrative framing often pushes these narratives to adopt a form of demonic otherings as the solution to societal ills, where conspiratorial scapegoats are used to explain away systemic problems. The paper concludes by advocating that narrative criminologists must work to further understand the appeal of conspiracist narratives.