Accelerationist conspiracy theories incorporate far-right and far-left rejections of centrist dialogue and call for the destabilisation of existing systems of political, social and economic order; they exist, are energised, and securitised in opposition to the ‘mainstream’. Positioning accelerationist conspiracy theories as understandable and penetrable social products of the citizen-state relationship provides agency to policymakers who seek to foster more productive public dialogue. Effective exercise of that agency in well-targeted interventions rests on understanding what motivates people to engage with conspiracist accelerationism. My PhD entails research that will develop an empirically grounded understanding of why conspiracist narratives resonate with, and how they persuade, Australian audiences.

In this context I apply ethnographic methods, and an analytical framework informed by anthropological and narrative approaches, to garner insights into how conspiracist citizen / state interactions foster accelerationism.