The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging

In this empathetic debut study, ethnographer Cook explores the rise of “conspirituality,” a mix of new age spirituality and far-right, anti-government conspiracy, among middle-aged white American women. She does so through in-depth portraits of two women who stormed the Capitol on January 6: Yvonne, a former Marine who slid into conspiracy-thinking through watching livestreams of the infamous new age cult Love Has Won, as well as a “QAnon recruitment video” playing in the waiting room of her chiropractor’s office; and Tammy, a grandmother whose beliefs “sound like an issue of [an] old supermarket tabloid” (McDonald’s is serving human meat; Trump is meeting with aliens). Though they live on opposite sides of the country, both women notably share the “same obscure spiritual language and belief system,” including references to Kyron, “a mystical entity” who speaks through “a retired sound engineer from San Diego.” The author contextualizes the two women’s worldviews within America’s long history of (frequently racist and antisemitic) alternative spiritualities, and she provides harrowing accounts of the “constant firehose of trauma” in Yvonne and Tammy’s pasts, including sexual abuse, drug addiction, domestic violence, and, for Tammy, the wrongful incarceration of two children. Most affecting of all is the relationship forged between Cook and her subjects, an intimacy that highlights the extent of the women’s isolation. It adds up to a moving call for compassion for those on America’s fringes. (Jan.)