Magic and Politics: Conspirituality and COVID-19.

People adopt conspiracy theories not only because of cognitive or emotional weaknesses but also as an aesthetic practice. During Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, the relationship between New Age spirituality and conspiracy theories, termed conspirituality, illustrates this. Drawing on Jacques Rancière's thought and studies of contemporary Paganism and Western esotericism, the article argues that conspiracy-believing expresses dissensus by a community of sense seeking full acknowledgment and legitimization of their participatory or magical way of inhabiting the world, rather than mere visibility.

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Abstract

Why do people find conspiracy theories attractive, convincing, or useful? In this article, I analyze conspirituality-that is, the relationships between New Age spirituality and conspiracy theories-in Italy during the COVID-19 lockdown. After distinguishing between conspiracy-believing and belief in conspiracies, I claim that conspiracy-believing could be understood as an aesthetic (sensory and artistic) practice. In doing so, I offer a novel interpretation on conspiracism that complements current scholarship while departing from the latter's focus on the cognitive and emotional weaknesses of those who adopt conspiracy theories. By engaging with the thought of Jacques Rancière, in conversation with studies on contemporary Paganism and Western esotericism, I consider the adoption of conspiracy theories as an expression of dissensus by a community of sense that does not look only for visibility but, rather, wants to be fully acknowledged, recognized, and legitimized in their "participatory"-or "magical"-way of inhabiting the world.