Category: News

  • ENGAGING WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES, FOSTERING DEMOCRACY: DYNAMICS, DRIVERS, AND DEFENCES

    ENGAGING WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES, FOSTERING DEMOCRACY: DYNAMICS, DRIVERS, AND DEFENCES

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    The conference organized on April 9 & 10, 2026, at Charles University, Prague was titled Engaging with Conspiracy Theories, Fostering Democracy: Dynamics, Drivers, And Defences. The title and content, as stipulated in the call for papers, was decided by the Scientific Committee of the conference, composed of members of TaCT-FoRSED, including all members of WP4. This theme reflects the project focus on democracy and defence mechanisms against conspiracy theories. While this topic featured significantly in the final conference program, we are happy to report that the topical breadth of conference reached much further, as expressed in what follows in the remainder of this report section. This was especially important given that an important aim of the conference was also to set the stage for the creation of a learned society for the study of conspiracy theories, and the learned society focus should not be confined to that of the project, but rather be thematically as ample as possible to attract and mobilize specialists in conspiracy theory to commit to joining it.

    Overall, the conference featured 11 panels:

    1. Panel 1 – Conspiracist Ideologies and Resilience of Democracies
    2. Panel 2 – Conspiracy Theories, Police and Crime
    3. Panel 3 – Countering Conspiracy Theories in Democracies
    4. Panel 4 – Intervention, Legitimacy and Conspireligion
    5. Panel 5 – Definition and Classification of Conspiracy Theories
    6. Panel 6 – Conspiracy Theories and Global Issues
    7. Panel 7 – Comparative Approaches to Conspiracy Theories
    8. Panel 8 – National and Regional Case Studies 1
    9. Panel 9 – Elements of Pseudo-Science and Conspiracy Theories Within Identity Politics and Theories
    10. Panel 10 – National and Regional Case Studies 2
    11. Panel 11 – Specific Topics Regarding Conspiracy Theories

    An important feature of the conference was the presentation of TaCT-FoRSED at the opening table, which contributed greatly to the awareness about the project among the community of conspiracy theory scholars at large. Yet another highlight was the presence of four keynote speakers, chose by the scientific committee among the most inspiring and acknowledged scholars working on conspiracy theory.

    The four keynote lectures were:

    1. Conspiracy Theory and Democracy, by Michael Butter, Universität Tübingen, Germany
    2. Consequences of Conspiracy Theories, by Karen Douglas, University of Kent, United Kingdom
    3. Too bad: On the affinity between dystopianism and conspiracism, by Eva Hausteiner, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
    4. ‘To see is to believe’: the visual communication of conspiracy ideation, by Andreas Önnefors, Linnaeus University, Sweden

    Besides the keynotes, the conference panels, and the roundtable for the establishing of the learned society, the conference also featured a Guided Tour: Conspiracy Theories and Prague, which focused on presenting some of the most iconic and influential conspiracy theories in this city through a walking session led by Petr Janeček. This activity was attended by many of the conference attendees, and offered a different, more ludic and interactive, approach to the study of conspiracy theories, in contrast to the more normative series of invited lectures and conference panels.

  • ACTOR website prototype launched

                The network was first conceived of during a roundtable at the TaCT-FoRSED conference in Prague, on 9 and 10 of April 2026. During this roundtable, the WP4 members presented the proposed structure of the association, along with a roadmap for its consolidation. The roundtable was open to all and had a significant number of attendees. Among the conference participants, there were key scholars whom we wanted to reach out to obtain not only invaluable feedback, but also to motivate them to join the learned society. That goal was reached.

                The prototype of the website was first launched on April 22, in accordance to its deliverable due date. The learned society’s name, ACTOR, Association of Conspiracy Theory Researchers, has already been defined, along with the basic version of its logo. A number of website features are already working. These are the “Home”, “About”, “News”, “Members”, “Resources & Publications”, “Events & Conferences”, and “Contact” tabs.

                According to the roadmap presented and approved during the conference, the next step is now to consolidate the basic features of the website, developing and fixing the present tabs, along with populating it with information from the society’s first members, which are TaCT-FoRSED’s own academic personnel. WP4 has been working on this step since the website launch, and it is about to integrate the first round of feedback from the project’s members until April 30th. It is important to notice that among the priorities until the end of the month, is operationalizing the email address and changing the domain to something much shorter and easier to remember.

                Departing from May 1st, WP4 members will reach out to conference participants and other key figures to expand its membership base, while continuing to consolidate the basic features of the website and integrate other potential components. Once this membership base has been significantly consolidated beyond TaCT-FoRSED’s members, WP4 will send a call for the first workshop, according to the roadmap above. For a long-term development plan and a more robust discussion about the website components, read this report, most of which was delivered first as the learned society’s concept paper delivered at the Prague conference on April 10, noting that a few things have already changed based on the feedback we received, including ACTOR’s logo.

                This report pertains to the TaCT-FoRSED deliverable 4.2., associated with “Building and maintaining a research network of scholars”; a “Web-based, lively, sustainable and open research network of scholars studying conspiracy theories (CTs)”. For this deliverable, the aim was to establish the basic structure of the network and the first version of its website.

                The network was first conceived of during a roundtable at the TaCT-FoRSED conference in Prague, on 9 and 10 of April 2026. During this roundtable, the WP4 members presented the proposed structure of the association, along with a roadmap for its consolidation. The roundtable was open to all and had a significant number of attendees. Among the conference participants, there were key scholars whom we wanted to reach out to obtain not only invaluable feedback, but also to motivate them to join the learned society. That goal was reached.

                The prototype of the website was first launched on April 22, in accordance to its deliverable due date. The learned society’s name, ACTOR, Association of Conspiracy Theory Researchers, has already been defined, along with the basic version of its logo. A number of website features are already working. These are the “Home”, “About”, “News”, “Members”, “Resources & Publications”, “Events & Conferences”, and “Contact” tabs.

                According to the roadmap presented and approved during the conference, the next step is now to consolidate the basic features of the website, developing and fixing the present tabs, along with populating it with information from the society’s first members, which are TaCT-FoRSED’s own academic personnel. WP4 has been working on this step since the website launch, and it is about to integrate the first round of feedback from the project’s members until April 30th. It is important to notice that among the priorities until the end of the month, is operationalizing the email address and changing the domain to something much shorter and easier to remember.

                Departing from May 1st, WP4 members will reach out to conference participants and other key figures to expand its membership base, while continuing to consolidate the basic features of the website and integrate other potential components. Once this membership base has been significantly consolidated beyond TaCT-FoRSED’s members, WP4 will send a call for the first workshop, according to the roadmap above. For a long-term development plan and a more robust discussion about the website components, read this report, most of which was delivered first as the learned society’s concept paper delivered at the Prague conference on April 10, noting that a few things have already changed based on the feedback we received, including ACTOR’s logo.

                This action pertains to the TaCT-FoRSED deliverable 4.2., associated with “Building and maintaining a research network of scholars”; a “Web-based, lively, sustainable and open research network of scholars studying conspiracy theories (CTs)”. For this deliverable, the aim was to establish the basic structure of the network and the first version of its website.

ACTOR is an initiative of the TaCT-FoRSED project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101178926. 

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor REA can be held responsible for them.