'Mexican Flag Mural' by Ms. Pheonix via Flickr Creative Commons

Paranoid narrative: Mexican history through conspiracy theories

Tue 31 May 2016

CRASSH

In Mexico, where power relations are not transparent and where there are many actually-existing conspiracies, theories abound about collusion and intrigue among economic and political leaders. This talk will examine how real and imagined conspiracies have shaped Mexican history since the 1970s. Citizens and leaders on the political Left and Right have advanced complex interpretations of events from peso devaluations to airplane crashes in which high-level politicians were killed, revealing a culture of suspicion and paranoia. The tension between real and imagined conspiracy is explored by analysing Mexico’s secret police archive, which is both a historical source for the topic and an example of how government agents colluded with criminals such as drug traffickers. The central role of conspiracy theories in Mexican society demonstrates a need for a narrative, and especially one that accounts for myriad plausible explanations, thus preventing citizens from becoming dupes in the context of an opaque political system.

Cost: Free