Kroz paniku oko teorija zavera ka racionalnoj paranoji?

Kulturni centar Rex | 6.7.2021. - 6.7.2021.
Produkcija
KC REX
Organizacija
Govorni programi
Kulturni kontekst (za) konstruisanja ”teorija zavera”
U razgovoru sa dizajnerom igara koji je analizirao sličnost on-line logike funkcionisanja “teorija zavere” sa logikom i strukturom “igara koje igraju ljude”, Ridom Berkovicem, ispostavilo se da ako neko pokuša da prati izvore i poreklo opskurnih QAnon priča i tvrdnji, na kraju to jest početku lanca njihovih širitelja, na pretpostavljenom ishodištu, u samoj bazi igre i same “teorije” zavere, obično se nalaze – niko ili ništa. Donekle sličan fenomen može se evocirati iz filma “Plodovi gneva” Džona Forda, baziranog na romanu Džona Štajnbeka (1939). U vreme Velike Depresije jedan ažurni vozač buldožera izaziva očajnog farmera čiju imovinu treba da zbriše sa lica zemlje kako bi napravio mesta za profitabilniji poljoprivredni biznis: “Nećeš pucati u mene zato što će sutra neko drugi kao ja doći da vozi ovaj buldožer za 3 dolara na sat kojima će prehraniti svoju porodicu! Možeš smisliti da upucaš vlasnika kompanije ali on samo radi ono što mu banka naređuje… možeš planirati da ubiješ poslovođu banke ali on je samo bezlični šraf koji će odmah biti zamenjen drugim isto tako bezličnim službenikom… nema nikoga koga možeš direktno okriviti…
 
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Neko od lokalnih distributera “teorija zavere”, nedavno se obratio organizatorima projekta: “Zašto ulazite u dosadnu raspravu o konspirologiji? (Treba obratiti pažnju da na engleskom “conspirology” može označavati naučno istraživanje fenomena zvanog “teorije zavere”). Ako hoćete da ih dekonstruišete, zar ne bi trebali prvo da istražite nešto o samom tom pojmu “teorije zavere”, da vidite ko je uspostavio sam taj termin i ko ga/ih tako imenuje i istražuje?
Savet nije mogao stići u boljem trenutku. Naš prvi rezident, gost iz SAD u projektu “NEZAVERENI u Beogradu i Los Anđelesu” je Džek Bratič, profesor na Departmanu za studije novinarstva i medija Univerziteta Rutgers. Kroz kritičku perspektivu preseka popularne kulture i političke kulture, Bratič primenjuje autonomističku socijalnu teoriju na teme kao što su medijski kapaciteti ručnog rada, rialiti televizija, mediji društvenih pokreta i kulturna politika tajnosti. Autor je knjige “Panika oko teorija zavere: Politička racionalnost i popularna kultura” (Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture) i ko-urednik “Fuko, studije kulture i umeće vladanja” (Foucault, Cultural Studies, and Governmentality). Trenutno radi na knjizi o nekropolitici i kulturi poznatoj kao “Deathstyle Fascism.”
U uvodu knjige Bratič šematski objašnjava svoju istraživačku poziciju: “Pojednostavljeno rečeno, dok mnoge analize polaze od pitanja:  Zašto inače normalni ljudi veruju u čudne stvari? - moj početni potez je: Zašto čudni ljudi veruju u normalne stvari? Ovaj grubi obrt označava tek promenu ugla gledanja na stvar. Nadalje, moj interes nije toliko u tome zašto ljudi rade ili veruju u nešto, već u širem diskurzivnom kulturnom kontekstu koji nameće i omogućava samo mišljenje i delanje. Izučavati kompoziciju i učinkovitost norme (u ovom slučaju političke racionalnosti koja funkcioniše kroz upravljanje ekstremnim mišljenjem/delanjem) podrazumeva otklon od izučavanja partikularnog problema,
Tvrdeći da je je panika oko teorija zavere zagonetniji fenomen od oblasti koje ona zabrinuto razmatra, Bratič zaključuje da nam “Teorije zavere govore manje o ljudima koji u njih veruju ili o kulturnom miljeu koji ih produkuje nego što to čine o dominantnim formama racionalnosti koje su njima kao problemima toliko zanesene. One su portal u kontekst koji ih problematizuje. Panika koja okružuje teorije zavere pokazuje da su poverenje, istina i racionalnost temeljni za tekući politički kontekst. Njihovim isticanjem kao predmeta opšte brige, teorije zavere snabdevaju nas uvidima u aktuelnu konfiguraciju političke racionalnosti.”
 
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Pored pregleda prošlog teorijskog rada na fenomenu, u uvodnom izlaganju svog boravka u utorak, Bratič će komentarisati neka skorija preplitanja “simptomatologija” pripisivanih “teorijama zavere” i “panici oko teorija zavere” koja su se mogla uočiti tokom njihovih ekspanzija izazvanih pandemijom korona virusa, kao i u sasvim aktuelnim slučajevima oba fenomena.
Intervju sa Džekom Bratičem će uskoro biti dostupan na engleskom jeziku, na Rexovom web-sajtu, dok će prevedeni delovi biti dostupni u komentarima na ovoj stranici
Uvodno izlaganje Džeka Bratiča je početak njegovog rezidensija, radnog boravka tokom koga će se sresti sa lokalnim aktivistkinjama i aktivistima, teoretičarima i teoretičarkama, umetnicima i umetnicama, novinarima i novinarkama kao i publikom zainteresovanom za temu projekta i Bratičev rad na njoj. Pre nego što otputuje, biće realizovan još jedan događaj ili akcija kojim će se sumirati iskustva njegovog boravka i rada u Beogradu.
 
Link ka susretima:
 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86478743462?pwd=Y2J6cWUwb3Ria2RKZXFvTlR2UmtwQT09

Meeting ID: 864 7874 3462
Passcode: 503811
 
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Projekat “NEZAVERENI U BG AND L.A. / Dekonstrukcija teorija zavere i lažnih vesti” realizuje se u Kulturnom centru Reks tokom 2021. godine uz podršku Ambasade Sjedinjenih američkih država u Beogradu. Četvoro gostiju iz Sjedinjenih država, teoretičara-teoretičarki, umetnica-ika, aktivistkinja-a, će tokom godine sa lokalnom kulturnom, aktivističkom i teorijskom scenom i opštom publikom deliti svoja znanja, iskustva i interesovanja za izučavanja i analize “teorija zavera” i drugih društvenih, političkih, medijskih fenomena.

THROUGH CONSPIRACY PANIC TO RATIONAL PARANOIA?
 
The cultural context of/for the construction of "conspiracy theories"
 
In the conversation with a game designer Reed Berkowitz it appeared that if one decides to trace the on-line origins and sources of QAnon claims and narratives, structured like the "games that play people", at the end of the chains of disseminators one usually finds just nothing/nobody at the supposed root or at "the base" of the "game" and accordingly of the "conspiracy theory". A somewhat similar phenomenon could be evoked from the John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath", 1940 movie based on the 1939 John Steinbeck Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. In times of Great Depression an industrious caterpillar operator challenges desperate farmers whose property he is about to destroy (in order to make place for some more profitable agricultural enterprise): "You won't shoot me because another one like me will come tomorrow to drive this caterpillar, you can think of shooting the company owner but he is just doing what bank is ordering him to do... you can think of killing a bank manager but he is just a man that will be instantly replaced by another faceless clerk... there's no one to directly blame.
Some of the prominent local distributers of the "conspiracy theories" recently addressed the organizers of this project: "Why entering a boring debate about conspirology? (Note that that could be a name for the scientific research of the phenomenon called "conspiracy theories"). If it is about their deconstruction, shouldn't you first research about the very notion of conspiracy theories, to find out who established the very term and who is in fact naming and inquiring it/them?"
 
The advice couldn't come in a better moment, our first resident in the project UNCONSPIRED in Belgrade and L.A. is Jack Bratich, professor in the journalism and media studies department at Rutgers University. By taking a critical approach to the intersection of popular culture and political culture, Bratich work applies autonomist social theory to such topics as craft media, reality television, social movement media, and the cultural politics of secrecy. He is the author of Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture and co-editor of Foucault, Cultural Studies, and Governmentality. He is currently working on a book on necropolitics and culture called “Deathstyle Fascism.”
In the introduction to his book Conspiracy Panics: Political Rationality and Popular Culture, Bratich schematically explains his research position: "To put it simply, while many analysts begin with the question, “Why do otherwise normal people believe in weird things?” My opening gambit is Why do weird people believe in normal things? This crude reversal signals a simple shift in perspective. Furthermore, my interest is not so much in why people do or believe anything, but in the broader discursive cultural contexts that constrain and enable thought/action. Studying the composition and effectiveness of the norm (in this case, a political rationality functioning via the management of extreme thought/action) entails a shift away from studying a particular problem."
Claiming that conspiracy panic is a more quizzical phenomenon than the domain of its concerned scrutiny, Bratich concludes that "Conspiracy theories tell us less about the people who believe in them or the cultural milieu that produces them than they do about the dominant forms of rationality that are so enraptured with them as problems. They are portals into the contexts that problematize them. The panics surrounding conspiracy theories demonstrate that trust, truth, and rationality are at the heart of the current political context. In their prominence as objects of public concern, conspiracy theories provide insights into the current configuration of political rationality."
 
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Next to the review of his past work on the phenomenon, in the introductory address of his residency Bratich will also reflect on the actual intertwining of "symptomatology" related or ascribed to "conspiracy theories" and "conspiracy panic" as seen in a recently COVD-19 induced expansion or even more recent cases of the both phenomenon.
The interview with Jack Bratich will soon be available in English at Rex's web-site, while translated parts will be posted here, in the comments of the event.
The introductory address by Jack Bratich is the beginning of his short residency during which he will meet with the local activists, theoreticians, artists, journalists and audience interested in the project topic and Bratich's work on the issue. Before he leave there will be another event or action that will sum up the experience of his stay and exchange in Belgrade.
 
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The project UNCONSPIRED IN BG AND L.A. / Deconstruction of Conspiracy Theories and Fake News is realized by Cultural center Rex during 2021 with the support of The Embassy of the United States of America in Belgrade. Four experts from US will share and exchange knowledge and experience from the study and analyses of the "conspiracy theories" and other related social, political, media etc. phenomenon.