Posted on 28 June 2024 by BaerbelW

Conspiracy theories attempt to explain events as the secretive plots of powerful people. While conspiracy theories are not typically supported by evidence, this doesn’t stop them from blossoming. Conspiracy theories damage society in a number of ways. To help minimise these harmful effects, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook, by Stephan Lewandowsky and John Cook, explains why conspiracy theories are so popular, how to identify the traits of conspiratorial thinking, and what are effective response strategies.

After its initial publication in March 2020, it didn't take long for the first translation - German - to make an appearance, followed in fairly short order by Spanish and Portuguese. Since then, several translations have been added each year and this year we already published two more: Dutch as #19 in May and Bulgarian at the end of June, getting us up to 20 translations!

With 20 translations, The Conspiracy Theory Handbook is now our handbook with the most translations, followed close on its heels by The Debunking Handbook 2020 with 19 translations thus far.

The Conspiracy Theaory Handbook distills the most important research findings and expert advice on dealing with conspiracy theories. It also introduces the abbreviation CONSPIR which serves as a mnemonic to more easily remember these seven traits of conspiratorial thinking:

• Contradictory
• Overriding suspicion
• Nefarious intent
• Something must be wrong
• Persecuted Victim
• Immune to Evidence
• Re-interpreting Randomness

None of these translations would have been possible without dedicated volunteer translators around the globe, offering their help and spend time on the translations. Just as important is the work done by Wendy Cook who designed the handbook in the first place. She has become an integral part of the translation effort as she copies the prepared translations into her layout file to create the PDF-proofs and finalized versions for each language.

List of translators sorted by language:

Interested to help with translations of the Conspiracy Theory Handbook?

Are you a native speaker of a language we don't yet have a translation for and would you like to fill that gap?  If your answer is 'Yes', then please let us know by filling out the short form below. I'll then be in touch as soon as possible to let you know about the next steps.