Religion and conspiracy theories

For hundreds of years the phenomenon of conspiracy theories has appeared in societal discourses. In the last decades a rapid growth of conspiracy narratives can be observed in the new medial sphere of the internet. Religious studies research investigates conspiracy theories in religious contexts, conspiracy theories about religious groups, and conspiracy theories as phenomena analogous to religion. In the latter instance religious studies investigates conceptional similarities between conspiracy narratives and established religious communities and practices, for example in the conception of community, the formation of narratives or the negotiation of identity and boundaries of groups.