A Specific Social Function of Rumors and Conspiracy Theories: Strengthening Community's Ties in Trouble Times. A Multilevel Analysis

Julien Giry (1)

1 IDPSP - Institut du droit public et de la science politique

This paper hypothesizes that conspiracy theories and rumors are an act of social conformism. The evaluation of their plausibility, and their success, is collectively determinate regarding the established values of an in-group and the social context. In periods of troubles they flourish to reaffirm themselves and strengthen community's ties, structures and leaderships. After a theoretical introduction, I will demonstrate this assumption through a multilevel analysis (macro, meso, micro) which considers a wide range of social situations from the French Revolution to neighborhood conflicts and from open riots to latent crises.

Mots clés: rumors; conspiracy theories; social functions; social ties; multilevel analysis

Domaines: Science politique; Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie; Sociologie

Julien Giry. A Specific Social Function of Rumors and Conspiracy Theories: Strengthening Community's Ties in Trouble Times. A Multilevel Analysis. Slovak Ethnology , 2017, 65 (2 ). ⟨hal-01686665⟩