Jeffrey M. Bale
'Conspiracy Theories' and Clandestine Politics
Sun Sep 15 21:06:39 2002
208.152.73.157

LOBSTER: The Journal of ParaPolitics

'Conspiracy Theories' and Clandestine Politics
by Jeffrey M. Bale From Lobster 29
http://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/articles/l29consp.htm

Very few notions generate as much intellectual resistance, hostility,
and derision within academic circles as a belief in the historical
importance or efficacy of political conspiracies. Even when this
belief is expressed in a very cautious manner, limited to specific
and restricted contexts, supported by reliable evidence, and hedged
about with all sort of qualifications, it still manages to transcend
the boundaries of acceptable discourse and violate unspoken academic
taboos. The idea that particular groups of people meet together
secretly or in private to plan various courses of action, and that
some of these plans actually exert a significant influence on
particular historical developments, is typically rejected out of hand
and assumed to be the figment of a paranoid imagination. The mere
mention of the word 'conspiracy' seems to set off an internal alarm
bell which causes scholars to close their minds in order to avoid
cognitive dissonance and possible unpleasantness, since the popular
image of conspiracy both fundamentally challenges the conception most
educated, sophisticated people have about how the world operates and
reminds them of the horrible persecutions that absurd and unfounded
conspiracy theories have precipitated or sustained in the past. So
strong is this prejudice among academics that even when clear
evidence of a plot is inadvertently discovered in the course of their
own research, they frequently feel compelled, either out of a sense
of embarrassment or a desire to defuse anticipated criticism, to
preface their account of it by ostentatiously disclaiming a belief in
conspiracies. (1)

They then often attempt to downplay the significance of the plotting
they have uncovered. To do otherwise, that is, to make a serious
effort to incorporate the documented activities of conspiratorial
groups into their general political or historical analyses, would
force them to stretch their mental horizons beyond customary bounds
and, not infrequently, delve even further into certain sordid and
politically sensitive topics. Most academic researchers clearly
prefer to ignore the implications of conspiratorial politics
altogether rather than deal directly with such controversial matters.

A number of complex cultural and historical factors contribute to
this reflexive and unwarranted reaction, but it is perhaps most often
the direct result of a simple failure to distinguish
between 'conspiracy theories' in the strict sense of the term, which
are essentially elaborate fables even though they may well be based
upon a kernel of truth, and the activities of actual clandestine and
covert political groups, which are a common feature of modern
politics. For this and other reasons, serious research into genuine
conspiratorial networks has at worst been suppressed, as a rule been
discouraged, and at best been looked upon with condescension by the
academic community. (2) An entire dimension of political history and
contemporary politics has thus been consistently neglected. (3)


For decades scholars interested in politics have directed their
attention toward explicating and evaluating the merits of various
political theories, or toward analyzing the more conventional,
formal, and overt aspects of practical politics. Even a cursory
examination of standard social science bibliographies reveals that
tens of thousands of books and articles have been written about
staple subjects such as the structure and functioning of government
bureaucracies, voting patterns and electoral results, parliamentary
procedures and activities, party organizations and factions, the
impact of constitutional provisions or laws, and the like. In marked
contrast, only a handful of scholarly publications have been devoted
to the general theme of political conspiracies--as opposed to popular
anti-conspiracy treatises, which are very numerous, and specific case
studies of events in which conspiratorial groups have played some
role -- and virtually all of these concern themselves with the
deleterious social impact of the 'paranoid style' of thought
manifested in classic conspiracy theories rather than the
characteristic features of real conspiratorial politics. (4)

Only the academic literature dealing with specialized topics like
espionage, covert action, political corruption, terrorism, and
revolutionary warfare touches upon clandestine and covert political
activities on a more or less regular basis, probably because such
activities cannot be avoided when dealing with these topics. But the
analyses and information contained therein are rarely incorporated
into standard works of history and social science, and much of that
specialized literature is itself unsatisfactory. Hence there is an
obvious need to place the study of conspiratorial politics on a sound
theoretical, methodological, and empirical footing, since ignoring
the influence of such politics can lead to severe errors of
historical interpretation.

This situation can only be remedied when a clear-cut analytical
distinction has been made between classic conspiracy theories and the
more limited conspiratorial activities that are a regular feature of
politics. 'Conspiracy theories' share a number of distinguishing
characteristics, but in all of them the essential element is a belief
in the existence of a 'vast, insidious, preternaturally effective
international conspiratorial network designed to perpetrate acts of
the most fiendish character', acts which aim to 'undermine and
destroy a way of life.' (5)

Although this apocalyptic conception is generally regarded nowadays
as the fantastic product of a paranoid mindset, in the past it was
often accepted as an accurate description of reality by large numbers
of people from all social strata, including intellectuals and heads
of state. (6) The fact that a belief in sinister, all-powerful
conspiratorial forces has not been restricted to small groups of
clinical paranoids and mental defectives suggests that it fulfills
certain important social functions and psychological needs.(7)


First of all, like many other intellectual constructs, conspiracy
theories help to make complex patterns of cause-and-effect in human
affairs more comprehensible by means of reductionism and
oversimplification. Secondly, they purport to identify the underlying
source of misery and injustice in the world, thereby accounting for
current crises and upheavals and explaining why bad things are
happening to good people or vice versa. Thirdly, by personifying that
source they paradoxically help people to reaffirm their own potential
ability to control the course of future historical developments.
After all, if evil conspirators are consciously causing undesirable
changes, the implication is that others, perhaps through the adoption
of similar techniques, may also consciously intervene to protect a
threatened way of life or otherwise alter the historical process. In
short, a belief in conspiracy theories helps people to make sense out
of a confusing, inhospitable reality, rationalize their present
difficulties, and partially assuage their feelings of powerlessness.
In this sense, it is no different than any number of religious,
social, or political beliefs, and is deserving of the same serious
study.

The image of conspiracies promoted by conspiracy theorists needs to
be further illuminated before it can be contrasted with genuine
conspiratorial politics. In the first place, conspiracy theorists
consider the alleged conspirators to be Evil incarnate. They are not
simply people with differing values or run-of-the-mill political
opponents, but inhuman, superhuman, and/or anti-human beings who
regularly commit abominable acts and are implacably attempting to
subvert and destroy everything that is decent and worth preserving in
the existing world. Thus, according to John Robison, the Bavarian
Illuminati were formed 'for the express purpose of ROOTING OUT ALL
THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, AND OVERTURNING ALL THE EXISTING
GOVERNMENTS IN EUROPE.' (8)

This grandiose claim is fairly representative, in the sense that most
conspiracy theorists view the world in similarly Manichean and
apocalyptic terms.

Secondly, conspiracy theorists perceive the conspiratorial group as
both monolithic and unerring in the pursuit of its goals. This group
is directed from a single conspiratorial centre, acting as a sort of
general staff, which plans and coordinates all of its activities down
to the last detail. Note, for example, Prince Clemens von
Metternich's claim that a 'directing committee' of the radicals from
all over Europe had been established in Paris to pursue their
insidious plotting against established governments. (9)

Given that presumption, it is no accident that many conspiracy
theorists refer to 'the Conspiracy' rather than (lower case)
conspiracies or conspiratorial factions, since they perceive no
internal divisions among the conspirators. Rather, as a group the
conspirators are believed to possess an extraordinary degree of
internal solidarity, which produces a corresponding degree of counter
solidarity vis-a-vis society at large, and indeed it is this very
cohesion and singleness of purpose which enables them to effectively
execute their plans to destroy existing institutions, seize power,
and eliminate all opposition.

Thirdly, conspiracy theorists believe that the conspiratorial group
is omnipresent, at least within its own sphere of operations. While
some conspiracy theories postulate a relatively localized group of
conspirators, most depict this group as both international in its
spatial dimensions and continuous in its temporal dimensions. '[T]he
conspirators planned and carried out evil in the past, they are
successfully active in the present, and they will triumph in the
future if they are not disturbed in their plans by those with
information about their sinister designs.'(10)

The conspiratorial group is therefore capable of operating virtually
everywhere. As a consequence of this ubiquitousness, anything that
occurs which has a broadly negative impact or seems in anyway related
to the purported aims of the conspirators can thus be plausibly
attributed to them.

Fourthly, the conspiratorial group is viewed by conspiracy theorists
as virtually omnipotent. In the past this group has successfully
overthrown empires and nations, corrupted whole societies, and
destroyed entire civilizations and cultures, and it is said to be in
the process of accomplishing the same thing at this very moment. Its
members are secretly working in every nook and cranny of society, and
are making use of every subversive technique known to mankind to
achieve their nefarious purposes. Nothing appears to be able to stand
in their way--unless the warnings of the conspiracy theorists are
heeded and acted upon at once. Even then there is no guarantee of
ultimate victory against such powerful forces, but a failure to
recognize the danger and take immediate countervailing action assures
the success of those forces in the near future.

Finally, for conspiracy theorists conspiracies are not simply a
regular feature of politics whose importance varies in different
historical contexts, but rather the motive force of all historical
change and development. The conspiratorial group can and does
continually alter the course of history, invariably in negative and
destructive ways, through conscious planning and direct intervention.
Its members are not buffeted about by structural forces beyond their
control and understanding, like everyone else, but are themselves
capable of controlling events more or less at will. This supposed
ability is usually attributed to some combination of demonic
influence or sponsorship, the possession of arcane knowledge, the
mastery of devilish techniques, and/or the creation of a
preternaturally effective clandestine organization. As a result,
unpleasant occurrences which are perceived by others to be the
products of coincidence or chance are viewed by conspiracy theorists
as further evidence of the secret workings of the conspiratorial
group. For them, nothing that happens occurs by accident. Everything
is the result of secret plotting in accordance with some sinister
design.

This central characteristic of conspiracy theories has been aptly
summed up by Donna Kossy in a popular book on fringe ideas:

Conspiracy theories are like black holes--they suck in everything
that comes their way, regardless of content or origin...Everything
you've ever known or experienced, no matter how 'meaningless', once
it contacts the conspiratorial universe, is enveloped by and cloaked
in sinister significance. Once inside, the vortex gains in size and
strength, sucking in everything you touch. (11)


As an example of this sort of mechanism, one has only to mention the
so-called 'umbrella man', a man who opened up an umbrella on a sunny
day in Dealey Plaza just as President John F. Kennedy's motorcade was
passing. A number of 'conspiracy theorists' have assumed that this
man was signalling to the assassins, thus tying a seemingly trivial
and inconsequential act into the alleged plot to kill Kennedy. It is
precisely this totalistic, all-encompassing quality that
distinguishes 'conspiracy theories' from the secret but often mundane
political planning that is carried out on a daily basis by all sorts
of groups, both within and outside of government. It should, however,
be pointed out that even if the 'umbrella man' was wholly innocent of
any involvement in a plot, as he almost certainly was, this does not
mean that the Warren Commission's reconstruction of the assassination
is accurate.

However that may be, real covert politics, although by definition
hidden or disguised and often deleterious in their impact, simply do
not correspond to the bleak, simplistic image propounded by
conspiracy theorists. Far from embodying metaphysical evil, they are
perfectly and recognizably human,

with all the positive and negative characteristics and potentialities
which that implies. At the most basic level, all the efforts of
individuals to privately plan and secretly initiate actions for their
own perceived mutual benefit --insofar as these are intentionally
withheld from outsiders and require the maintenance of secrecy for
their success--are conspiracies. Moreover, in contrast to the claims
of conspiracy theorists, covert politics are anything but monolithic.
At any given point in time, there are dozens if not thousands of
competitive political and economic groups engaging in secret planning
and activities, and most are doing so in an effort to gain some
advantage over their rivals among the others. Such behind-the-scene
operations are present on every level, from the mundane efforts of
small-scale retailers to gain competitive advantage by being the
first to develop new product lines to the crucially important
attempts by rival secret services to penetrate and manipulate each
other. Sometimes the patterns of these covert rivalries and struggles
are relatively stable over time, whereas at other times they appear
fluid and kaleidoscopic, as different groups secretly shift alliances
and change tactics in accordance with their perceived interests. Even
internally, within particular groups operating clandestinely, there
are typically bitter disagreements between various factions over the
specific courses of action to be adopted. Unanimity of opinioon
historical judgements. There is probably no way to prevent this sort
of unconscious reaction in the current intellectual climate, but the
least that can

• MI6 have returned to planting disinformation — Lobster 4, Sun Sep 15 21:12