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The Emergence of the Term “Conspiracy” in the Arabic Public Sphere
in Contributions to the History of Concepts
Author:
Jacob Høigilt
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2824-3552
Jacob Høigilt
Professor, University of Oslo, Norway jacob.hoigilt@ikos.uio.no
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Abstract
Conspiracy theories are widespread across the world, including in the Arab Middle East and North Africa. The term “conspiracy” (muˀāmara) itself is also frequently used in contemporary Arabic. However, we know little about when and how the term emerged and how it was used originally. Based on a digital corpus of Arab newspapers from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as plain text versions of classical Arabic literature, this article finds that muˀāmara appears and rises to prominence in the late nineteenth century in the emerging Arabic-speaking public sphere. The term was probably coined in response to influence from European public discourse at the same time, which included conspiracy theories. Unlike that European discourse and today's Arabic conspiracy talk, the early usage of muˀāmara had little to do with either conspiracy theories or religion. The word was used in a more sober way than in Europe.
Contributor Notes
Jacob Høigilt is professor of Arab studies at the University of Oslo. ORCID