PRELIMINARY PROGRAMME
Thursday, 1st of December
8.45 Coffee
9.15 Welcome words: Tuomas Forsberg, Director of the HCAS
Opening words: Kinga Polynczuk-Alenius & Tero Toivanen
9.30 Maria Lasonen-Aarnio: On the Epistemology of Mis-/distrust
10.15 Keynote: Prof. Michael Butter (University of Tübingen): Conspiracy Theories, Populism, Democracy
11.15 Lunch
12.15 Panel session 1: Contrarian epistemologies across time and space (Chair: Mark Aitken, HCAS)
- Oula Silvennoinen (University of Helsinki): “Everywhere it was the Jews”: Antisemitism, Conspiracism and the Origins of Interwar Finnish Far Right
- Toni Saarinen (University of Helsinki): Old Made New: Constructing Stigmatized Knowledge in the QAnon Myth
- Cora Alexa Døving (University of Oslo): How conspiracy theories make sense in Norwegian Facebook groups: An introduction to ‘conspiracy talk’ as an analytical concept
13.45 Coffee break
14.15 Panel session 2: The ‘usual suspects’ of contrarian epistemologies (Chair: Raskov Danila, HCAS)
- Mari-Liis Madisson (University of Tartu): Strategic conspiracy narratives in political communication: Case study of EKRE’s transmedial anti-Soros messages
- Marko Ampuja (University of Helsinki): Conspiracy theories and the organic crisis of Western liberal democracies
- Mariëlle Wijermars (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies): The memory politics of ultranationalism in Russia
17.00 Public event at Oodi (Helsinki City Library): Democratisation of knowledge and the crisis of democracy
19.00 Reception (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Common Room, 3rd floor)
Friday, 2nd of December
9.30 Coffee
10.00 Keynote 2: Associate Prof. Elżbieta Korolczuk (Södertörn University & University of Warsaw): Gender denialism in contemporary Europe: the anti-gender campaigns in the populist moment
11.00 Lunch
12.00 Panel session 3: Established authorities, expertise, and contrarian epistemologies (Chair: Katja Kujanpää, HCAS)
- Niki Sopanen (University of Helsinki): Crouching (paper) tiger, hidden (paper) dragon, and the clash (of theories) of conspiracies – a comparative inquiry into conspiratorial discourses in China-U.S. relations
- Katja Valaskivi (University of Helsinki): Epistemic Contestations in the Attention Factory
- Alfred Moore (York University): Deliberative Traps and the Problem of Distrust: Controversies over expertise in the Covid pandemic
13.30 Break
13.45 Keynote: Associate Prof. Martin Hultman (Chalmers University): Climate Obstruction: How Propaganda, Conspiracies and Apathy are Heating the Planet
14.45 Coffee break
15.00 Panel session 4: Contrarian epistemologies in culture and media (Chair: Walter Rech, HCAS)
- Anita Pluwak (Tallinn University): Female conspiracy fiction from postsocialist Poland
- Niko Pyrhönen (University of Helsinki): Contrarian epistemologies as political fandom?
- Kimi Kärki (University of Turku): The Eternal Return of Nazis: Popular Culture, Nazi Conspiracies, and Underground Entryism
16.30 Break
16.45 Panel session 5: Consequences and entanglements of contrarian epistemologies (Chair: Kristin Ferebee, HCAS)
- Annastiina Kallius (University of Helsinki): Conspiracies and Illiberal Infrastructure of Knowledge in Hungary
- Olli Herranen (University of Helsinki): Climate denialism and the delicate balance between freedom and control
- Kinga Polynczuk-Alenius (Polish Academy of Sciences & University of Helsinki) and Tero Toivanen (Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies): Mapping contrarian responses to Russia’s war on Ukraine on the far-right in Finland and Poland
19.00 Conference dinner (Restaurant: The Cock, Fabianinkatu 17)