Introduction

This Introduction begins by highlighting two features of the Italian case: on the one hand, the ordinary use of conspiracy theories in contemporary-for 30 years to the present-political and public debate; on the other, the long history of three different words and concepts in the Italian language that have converged in the current popular conception of conspiracy. It then describes the contents of the book, which is organized along two axes: one historical and the other thematic. The first focuses on the historical development-from the early 1970s to the present day-of some key issues (e.g. the non-clear division between legitimate/illegitimate forms of knowledge, the use of conspiracy as a confrontational discursive device, the emergence of moral panic, and the stabilization of information outlets against dominant official explanations). The second axis concerns the pervasive use of conspiracy as a theory or narrative that currently circulates in various Italian cultural fields (multiculturalism, immigration, and racism; Catholic traditionalism; football fandom; small business economics; and cooking and food).