Comparison to Shoah: Victimhood and Persuasion in Conspiracy Discourses

Every crisis leads to a wide range of social reactions, including conspiracy theories, and the covid-19 pandemic crisis was no exception. Without examining every conspiracy claim that has emerged during the recent global pandemic, a paradoxical relationship has been noted in some of those speeches with the figure of the “Jew” who is presented as a single entity being compared to an essentialised double figure. On the one hand, the “Jew” is portrayed as the classical figure of the scapegoat, responsible for our misfortunes. On the other hand, the “Jew” is used as the figure of the victim to whom being compared brings legitimacy. Both discursive constructions carry their own charge of violence. First, we are faced with antisemitism. Second, conspiracy speakers are (self)portrayed as victims, a status that they then reclaim and instrumentalize. It is our hypothesis that this discursive construction, besides representing a violent abuse of the memory of the Shoah, is part of a general strategy for persuasion for conspiracy theories. This paper is part of a doctoral research project on conspiracy discourses and their persuasive effects.