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Researching Conspiracy Theories and Trust in V4
Call for Papers
Researching Conspiracy Theories and Trust in V4
Date: 18-19 September 2025
Place: Institute for Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
Over the past decade, and especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories have emerged as a significant social issue, gaining attention from scholars, policymakers, and the public. In Europe, this topic is seen as particularly pressing in countries that are characterized by low levels of institutional and political trust, such as those in Central and Eastern Europe. The growing sensibility towards conspiracy theories and concerns about the possible impact of conspiratorial thinking have led to the development of a rich interdisciplinary field of research. However, despite the increasing academic focus on the topic, the study of conspiracy theories continues to grapple with conceptual, epistemological, and methodological challenges. These challenges are often fundamental: they include definitional characteristics of conspiracy theorizing, understanding its social and cultural drivers, as well as addressing political biases in data collection and interpretation.
This workshop seeks to address these issues by bringing together scholars from the social sciences and humanities to critically engage with the study of conspiracy theories. Special attention will be given to the countries of the Visegrád Four—Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland—where the interplay of historical legacies, political polarization, and distrust in institutions creates fertile ground for conspiratorial narratives and also drives highthe worries about them. By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, the workshop aims to advance the academic understanding of conspiracy theories in these contexts.
About PANTRUTH
Simultaneous to COVID-19’s spread, seemingly similar conspiratorial ideas have appeared in various locations, among different groups. The pandemic fed old conspiracies and generated new theories regarding risk and illness, science, healthcare and the medical industry as well as state administration. As conspiracy theories have been flourishing the boundary between legitimate concerns, questions and critiques on the one side and conspiracy theories on the other started to blur. Conspiracy theories became a central issue not only to those people who endorse them but also to those who fear of their societal consequences. Soon conflicts over knowledge became a highly divisive force. By analysing how stakeholders on both sides of the conspiratorial divide (actors who propagate conspiracy theories and those who combat them) engage with medical conspiracy theories and attach a meaning to them, we want to understand what those conflicts can reveal about contemporary tensions of the Covid-19-driven world? Using case studies from Slovakia, Poland, Czechia and Hungary and the interpretive tools of social anthropology, supported by the data obtained through sociological and digital methods, the project will explore what are the particular characteristics of those conflicts in the Visegrad Countries? How do different national settings, socio-political arrangements and pandemic control strategies influence them? Further, the objective is to analyse what can conflicts over scientific knowledge and health governance tell us about the ways in which people make sense of the pandemic? What do they reveal about people’s vision of the post-Covid world, the future of their states and democracy at large?How to Apply?
We invite applications from all fields of social sciences and humanities, focusing on conspiracy theories and trust in the V4. We welcome empirical as well as theoretical and methodological papers.Funding
The project offers limited funding for travel and accommodation costs, with preference given to early career researchers. The level of financial assistance per participant will be determined based on the number of requests received for travel and accommodation support.To apply, please send a 300-500 word abstract to dominik.zelinsky@savba.sk by 15 April 2025.
Photo: Denník N, Tomáš Benedikovič (2021)
Zoznam priložených súborov:
[ Pantruth_Workshop_Abstract_CFP.pdf ]