Conspiracy Theories, Racial Liberalism and Fantasies of Freedom

IF 0.8 Q2 LAW
Liam Gillespie, Sahar Ghumkhor
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article provides a reading of the Truckers’ Freedom Convoy, which emerged in response to Covid-19 related public health measures in 2022. It argues the movement invites an interrogation of the affective structures of modern liberal subjectivity. We first map the social and political configurations of the movement, highlighting its links with white supremacist conspiracy theories, such as QAnon and Great Replacement Theory. We argue these conspiracies were used to frame Covid-19 countermeasures as the continuation of a perceived trend toward the deliberate but surreptitious erosion of freedom qua white freedom. To this end, the notion the pandemic was really a ‘plandemic’ is informative. For adherents of this view, Covid-19 and its freedom-inhibiting countermeasures were merely deliberate steps towards an already occurring conspiracy. Referencing psychoanalytic theory, the article examines how racial liberalism structured the racist fantasies that drove the freedom movement’s attempts to safeguard freedom by flaunting Covid-19 restrictions. We argue the movement provided its members with a pathway towards jouissance that allowed fear to be performatively refused in the name of freedom. This, we argue, allowed members to embody their imagined status as exalted subjects of the white nation.

阴谋论、种族自由主义和自由幻想
本文对 "卡车司机自由车队"(Truckers' Freedom Convoy)进行了解读,该车队的出现是对 2022 年科维德-19 运动相关公共卫生措施的回应。文章认为,这场运动引发了对现代自由主义主体性情感结构的拷问。我们首先描绘了这一运动的社会和政治结构,强调了它与白人至上主义阴谋论的联系,如 QAnon 和 "大替代理论"(Great Replacement Theory)。我们认为,这些阴谋论被用来将 "Covid-19 "的反制措施定格为蓄意但偷偷侵蚀白人自由的趋势的延续。为此,"大流行病实际上是一种'瘟疫'"的观点很有参考价值。对于这种观点的拥护者来说,Covid-19 及其抑制自由的对策不过是朝着已经发生的阴谋故意迈出的一步。文章引用精神分析理论,探讨了种族自由主义是如何构建种族主义幻想的,而种族主义幻想又是如何驱使自由运动试图通过炫耀 Covid-19 限制措施来捍卫自由的。我们认为,该运动为其成员提供了一条通往幸福的道路,允许以自由的名义表演性地拒绝恐惧。我们认为,这使得运动成员能够体现他们想象中作为白人国家崇高主体的地位。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.30
自引率
25.00%
发文量
19
期刊介绍: Law and Critique is the prime international critical legal theory journal. It has been published for 20 years and is associated with the Critical Legal Conference. Law and Critique covers all aspects of legal theory, jurisprudence and substantive law that are approached from a critical perspective. Law and Critique has introduced into legal scholarship a variety of schools of thought, such as postmodernism; feminism; queer theory; critical race theory; literary approaches to law; psychoanalysis; law and the humanities; law and aesthetics and post-colonialism. Postmodern jurisprudence, law and aesthetics and law and psychoanalysis were pioneered in Law and Critique which remains the most authoritative international source for these schools of thought. Law and Critique is keen to translate and incorporate non-English critical legal thought. More specifically, Law and Critique encourages the submission of articles in the areas of critical legal theory and history, law and literature, law and psychoanalysis, feminist legal theory, critical race theory, law and post-colonialism; postmodern jurisprudence, law and aesthetics; legal phenomenology; and law and autopoiesis. Past special issues include: ''Critical Legal Education''; ''The Gender of Law''; ''Law and Postmodernism''; ''Law and Literature''; ''Law and Post-colonialism'', ''Law and Theatre''; ''Jean-Luc Nancy and Law''; ''Agamben and Law''. Law and Critique is ranked amongst the top 20 per cent of law journals by the Australian Research Council.
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