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SUMMARY:Conspiracy Theories As Social Imaginary: The Case of Blackwater in
  Pakistan -  Dr. Humeira Iqtidar\, Lecturer in Politics\, King's College L
 ondon
DTSTART:20110509T113000Z
DTEND:20110509T130000Z
UID:TALK30103@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hubertus Juergenliemk
DESCRIPTION:Pakistan seems to offer a particularly fertile ground for cons
 piracy theories. The presence and undefined role of Blackwater\, a private
  security firm working as a subcontractor to the US Army\, has lent new fe
 rvour to these discussions. Certainly mainstream North Atlantic media port
 rays Pakistanis as particularly prone to believing conspiracy theories. Su
 ch a representation carries within it many suggestions: of blind nationali
 sm and ignorance of history\, of misinformed locals unable to deal with a 
 complicated reality\, and of shifting blame from Pakistanis to those outsi
 de this imagined community. But what precisely is the relationship between
  conspiracy theories and a sedimented history? Conspiracy theories may be 
 too linear and hyper-logical to allow for historical contingency and the m
 essy reality of political struggles but is it possible to conceive of them
  as a kind of social imaginary that places Pakistan within a transnational
  context in an age where a surfeit of information is matched only by its i
 naccessibility for vast numbers of people\, and at a time when it has beco
 me legitimate to talk of empire again? The paper takes a detailed look at 
 local about f Blackwater to think through some of these questions.\n\nThe 
 discussant will be Sharath Srinivasan.\n\nFor more information about the s
 peaker\, please visit:\nhttp://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/politicaleconomy
 /people/iqitdar.html\nor\nhttp://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chi
 cago/S/bo11017672.htm
LOCATION:Senior Common Room\, 17 Mill Lane\, Cambridge CB2 1RX
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