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Chapter 14. Expressing stance towards COVID-19 conspiracy theories in Macedonian online forum discussions

  • Liljana Mitkovska and Fevzudina Saračević
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Conspiracy Theory Discourses
This chapter is in the book Conspiracy Theory Discourses

Abstract

This chapter examines how stancetaking strategies aid advocacy and refutation of prevalent COVID-19 related conspiracy theories on two Macedonian internet discussion fora. The socio-political background and the content of detected conspiracy theories debated in the forum threads are briefly discussed. The authors explore affective, epistemic and interpersonal positioning in posts by three groups of social actors: conspiracy theory proponents, conspiracy theory opponents and a group of undecided. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of selected discussion sequences the chapter draws attention to dominant patterns of stancetaking in conspiracy theory argumentation.

Abstract

This chapter examines how stancetaking strategies aid advocacy and refutation of prevalent COVID-19 related conspiracy theories on two Macedonian internet discussion fora. The socio-political background and the content of detected conspiracy theories debated in the forum threads are briefly discussed. The authors explore affective, epistemic and interpersonal positioning in posts by three groups of social actors: conspiracy theory proponents, conspiracy theory opponents and a group of undecided. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of selected discussion sequences the chapter draws attention to dominant patterns of stancetaking in conspiracy theory argumentation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Chapter 1. Conspiracy theory discourses 1
  5. Part I. Conspiracy theories
  6. Chapter 2. A corpus-driven exploration of conspiracy theorising as a discourse type 25
  7. Chapter 3. Is my mobile phone listening to me? 49
  8. Chapter 4. “Go ahead and ‘debunk’ truth by calling it a conspiracy theory” 71
  9. Chapter 5. “You want me to be wrong” 99
  10. Chapter 6. Fake conspiracy 121
  11. Part II. Conspiracy theory-related communicative phenomena
  12. Chapter 7. Exploring the echo chamber concept 143
  13. Chapter 8. “If you can’t see the pattern here, there’s something wrong” 169
  14. Chapter 9. Complementary concepts of disinformation 193
  15. Chapter 10. COVID-19 conspiracy theories as affective discourse 215
  16. Part III. Social media and conspiracy theories
  17. Chapter 11. The ID2020 conspiracy theory in YouTube video comments during COVID-19 241
  18. Chapter 12. #conspiracymemes 267
  19. Chapter 13. The New World Order on Twitter 295
  20. Part IV. Stancetaking and (de-)legitimation within conspiracy and anti-conspiracy discourses
  21. Chapter 14. Expressing stance towards COVID-19 conspiracy theories in Macedonian online forum discussions 319
  22. Chapter 15. Ideologies and the representation of identities in anti-vaccination conspiracy theories 343
  23. Chapter 16. Collective identities in the online self-representation of conspiracy theorists 365
  24. Part V. Political and international dimensions of conspiracy theories
  25. Chapter 17. Anti-Sorosism 395
  26. Chapter 18. “These cameras won’t show the crowds” 421
  27. Chapter 19. From strategic depiction of conspiracies to conspiracy theories 443
  28. Chapter 20. “Gender ideology” and the discursive infrastructure of a transnational conspiracy theory 465
  29. Epilogue. Beyond discourse theory in the conspiratorial mode? 489
  30. Notes on contributors 495
  31. Index 505
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.98.14mit

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Chapter 1. Conspiracy theory discourses 1
  5. Part I. Conspiracy theories
  6. Chapter 2. A corpus-driven exploration of conspiracy theorising as a discourse type 25
  7. Chapter 3. Is my mobile phone listening to me? 49
  8. Chapter 4. “Go ahead and ‘debunk’ truth by calling it a conspiracy theory” 71
  9. Chapter 5. “You want me to be wrong” 99
  10. Chapter 6. Fake conspiracy 121
  11. Part II. Conspiracy theory-related communicative phenomena
  12. Chapter 7. Exploring the echo chamber concept 143
  13. Chapter 8. “If you can’t see the pattern here, there’s something wrong” 169
  14. Chapter 9. Complementary concepts of disinformation 193
  15. Chapter 10. COVID-19 conspiracy theories as affective discourse 215
  16. Part III. Social media and conspiracy theories
  17. Chapter 11. The ID2020 conspiracy theory in YouTube video comments during COVID-19 241
  18. Chapter 12. #conspiracymemes 267
  19. Chapter 13. The New World Order on Twitter 295
  20. Part IV. Stancetaking and (de-)legitimation within conspiracy and anti-conspiracy discourses
  21. Chapter 14. Expressing stance towards COVID-19 conspiracy theories in Macedonian online forum discussions 319
  22. Chapter 15. Ideologies and the representation of identities in anti-vaccination conspiracy theories 343
  23. Chapter 16. Collective identities in the online self-representation of conspiracy theorists 365
  24. Part V. Political and international dimensions of conspiracy theories
  25. Chapter 17. Anti-Sorosism 395
  26. Chapter 18. “These cameras won’t show the crowds” 421
  27. Chapter 19. From strategic depiction of conspiracies to conspiracy theories 443
  28. Chapter 20. “Gender ideology” and the discursive infrastructure of a transnational conspiracy theory 465
  29. Epilogue. Beyond discourse theory in the conspiratorial mode? 489
  30. Notes on contributors 495
  31. Index 505
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