Conspiracy Theories in Eastern Europe

Anastasiya Astapova is a research fellow at the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

This collection of state-of-the-art essays explores conspiracy cultures in post-socialist Eastern Europe, ranging from the nineteenth century to contemporary manifestations.

Introduction: Eastern Europe in the Global Traffic of Conspiracy Theories Part I. Conspiracy Culture under Socialism and its Afterlife in Eastern Europe 1. Chernobyl Conspiracy Theories: From American Sabotage to the Biggest Hoax of the Century 2. Stalinist Conspiracy Theories in France and Italy: The Limits of Postwar Communist Conspiracy Culture 3. "By the Order of their Foreign Masters": Soviet Dissidents, Anti-Western Conspiracy, and the Deprivation of Agency Part II. "The Enemy Within": Jews and Freemasons 4. The Myth of a Judeo-Bolshevik Conspiracy in Hungary, Within and Beyond the Far Right 5. An Open Secret: Freemasonry and Justice in Post-Socialist Bulgaria 6. From Judeo-Polonia to Act 447: How and Why Did the Jewish Conspiracy Myth Become a Central Issue in Polish Political Discourse? Part III. After Independence: Nation-building and Victimhood Narratives 7. Dissolution of Yugoslavia as a Conspiracy and its Haunting Returns: Narratives of Internal and External Othering 8. The Dangerous Russian Other in Ukrainian Conspiratorial Discourse: Media Representations of the Odessa Tragedy 9. The Victims, the Guilty, and "Us": Notions of Victimhood in Slovakian Conspiracy Theories Part IV. Eastern Europe Goes Global: Conspiracy Theories and the Rise of Populism 10. Soros Conspiracy Theories and the Rise of Populism in Post-Socialist Hungary and Romania 11. Conspiracy Theories on Moldovan Commercial TV 12. North Macedonia Goes Global: Pro-EU Aspiration and Anti-EU Sentiment as a Basis for EU-related Conspiracy Theories 13. Conspiracy Theory Theory, Epistemology, and Eastern Europe