Con-SA · Conspiracy Theorizing from South Asia. Formation, Mediatization, and Appropriation.

While conspiracy theories (CT) are widely debated as a global phenomenon, case studies from the Global North have largely shaped their definitions. This project aims to expand the field by examining the formation, mediatization, and appropriation of conspiracy theories in South Asia to challenge the dominance of Europe and US-centric perspectives in three ways: (a) Empirically: Positioning South Asia—home to one-quarter of the world’s population—on the map of conspiracy theory studies, we will examine conspiracy theories surrounding topics such as politics, the apocalypse, global warming, gender, and minorities in the subcontinent’s three most populous countries: Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. (b) Methodologically: A mixed-methods approach combining multi-sited ethnography with computational methods in mostly non-Anglophone online spaces will help us study online content and media practices of people producing and consuming CTs. (c) Theoretically: With the results from our South Asian case studies, we will critically engage with theories built on case studies from the Global North. To achieve these three objectives, Con-SA uses an interdisciplinary methodology that combines textual analysis, digital humanities, and extensive ethnography, guided by three interdependent questions:a.) Formation. Which narratives count as conspiracy theories in postcolonial South Asia, and how do they form in vernacular discourses?b.) Mediatization. Which conspiracy theories successfully move through digitally dominated media landscapes, and which media practices help their popularity?c.) Appropriation. How do our interlocuters (e.g., politicians, influencers, minorities) appropriate conspiracy theories in their daily lives?Through its three objectives and three methodologies, Con-SA (containing the Hindi/Urdu pronouns “kaun,” meaning “who?” and “kaunsa,” meaning “which?”) seeks to redress an existing overemphasis on the Global North in the field of global conspiracy theories