Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories: Comparing and Connecting Old and New Trends

Religious Dimensions of Conspiracy Theories contributes to the study of conspiracy culture by analysing the religious and esoteric dimensions of conspiracy theories.

The book examines both historical and contemporary examples to explore transnational and transhistorical continuities between religious doctrines, eschatologies, and conspiracy theories. It draws on a broad range of disciplinary insights from historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and religious studies scholars. The book has a global focus and features case studies from North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, esotericism, extremism, and religion

Francesco Piraino is Postdoctoral Scholar at Ca’ Foscari University, Italy, and the Director of the Centre of Comparative Studies of Spiritualties and Civilisations at the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, Italy.

Marco Pasi is Associate Professor in the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is a founding member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE).

Egil Asprem is Professor in the History of Religions, with a focus on esotericism, new religious movements, alternative spiritualities, and the cognitive science of religion, at Stockholm University, Sweden. He is editor-in-chief of Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism.