Anton Jäger’s book Hyperpolitics is another one of those I’ve read, recommended, and will be insufferable about for quite some time. But at least that insufferability helps me gain useful insights to navigate the world.
To re-iterate Jäger’s theories, you can measure politics on scale of Politicization (how political are things) and Institutionalization (people are engaged with clubs, churches, unions, etc.). We had both Politicization and Institutionalization that built our world, an age of Mass Politics from clubs to unions. Our current age is one of Hyperpolitics, everything is political but we’re disconnected and our political movements aren’t that social.
One of the things that Jäger’s work keep has me thinking about is his model that our age of Hyperpolitics seems so lonely. Hyperpolitics, in Jäger’s theory, is an age of outbursts and politics but things don’t get better as there’s no building of institutions that bring such progress. We’re in an age of tantrum and outburst but not connecting – and I think that explains Conspiracy Culture.
Back in the heady days where Qanon began, it seemed to be all-encompassing. People would decode drops from the mysterious Q figure (who clearly was several figures, and hijacked by the owners of the website he was on). Conspiracy theories spun out and were drawn in, creating ever-expanding narratives. People made videos and guides and websites, and so on. Qanon was a project, it was a lifestyle, it was a club.
It may seem like a unique pathology but anyone familiar with cults, conspiracy grifts, and various extreme movements would recognize what was going on. Qanon (and its like) provided community and a sense of belonging. Whatever was going on, here were people that were on your side, and you could yes-and your way into any group or conversation. You could also feel effective as it did change politics, albeit in ways that had no payoff as people discovered.
Looking at that through the lens of Hyperpolitics makes it seem sadly obvious and understandable.
How many people attach themselves to conspiracy theories, join high-control groups, or create their own conspiracy fandom out of a sense of loneliness and frustration? In an age where everything is political and there’s no institutionalization, such groups can soothe not just a sense of powerlessness or need for understanding, but a need for connection. In the past someone might join a club or a union, or already belong to one and have a sense of belonging – but in the 21st century it’s easier to go online and go down a rabbit hole.
I wonder how much of Conspiracy Culture, especially in the US, is people who feel not just powerless or isolated and lonely. They get an illusion of the Mass Politics of Jager, a sense of community and of institution. They are still isolated and manipulated, caught up in Hyperpolitics, but the feel is there.
This is something that sits uncomfortably with me. I know that there’s so many grifters in Conspiracy Culture, that in the influencer age, inauthentic engagement is far too common. But that doesn’t mean people still aren’t lonely – and still aren’t take advantage of by people who are grifters AND lonely.
Of course in an age of Hyperpolitics, this might lead to a self-amplifying loop. People in a politicized age with no sense of institution and belonging create an institution – that just reinforces the extremes of the age. People seek camaraderie and change and just end up joining groups who are focused on further amplifying the political situation with their theories. Conspiracy Community may be community, but it’s still about the conspiracy, and that means the community keeps amplifying it, keeping up the Hyperpolitics.
Of course nothing much changes, because we know there are people ready to tap the conspiracy community for money and influence, but not to help the people within. It’s up to us to rebuild a modern form of mass politics, of politics and social institutions, because the future is otherwise a bleak string of tantrums.