Michael Barkun
Encyclopedia
Michael Barkun is professor emeritus of political science
at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
, Syracuse University
, specializing in political extremism and the relationship between religion and violence
. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including Religion and The Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement (1996), A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America
(2003), and Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11 (2011).
Barkun has acted as a consultant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
; as a member of the Special Advisory Commission to the FBI's
Critical Incident Response Group in 1995–1996, he provided training and background presentations on the radical right
. He serves on the editorial boards of Terrorism and Political Violence and Nova Religio
, and was the editor of Communal Societies from 1987 to 1994. He edits the Religion and Politics book series for the Syracuse University Press. He won the 2003 Distinguished Scholar award from the Communal Studies Association, and the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights for his book Religion and the Racist Right. He earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1965.
Barkun focuses particularly on millenarian
and utopian
movements, terrorism
and "doomsday weapon
s," and the contemporary influence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, decades after it was exposed as a hoax. Paul S. Boyer writes that Barkun knows his way around the world of conspiracy theorists
better than any other scholar in America.
Reviews
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs is the public policy school of Syracuse University...
, Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, specializing in political extremism and the relationship between religion and violence
Religious violence
Religious violence is a term that covers all phenomena where religion, in any of its forms, is either the subject or object of violent behaviour. Religious violence is, specifically, violence that is motivated by or in reaction to religious precepts, texts or doctrines...
. He is the author of a number of books on the subject, including Religion and The Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement (1996), A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America
A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America
A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America is a 2003 non-fiction book written by Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs...
(2003), and Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11 (2011).
Barkun has acted as a consultant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
; as a member of the Special Advisory Commission to the FBI's
Critical Incident Response Group in 1995–1996, he provided training and background presentations on the radical right
Radical Right
Radical Right is a generally pejorative term used to describe various political movements on the right that are conspiracist, attuned to anti-American or anti-Christian agents of foreign powers, and "politically radical." The term was first used by social scientists in the 1950s regarding small...
. He serves on the editorial boards of Terrorism and Political Violence and Nova Religio
Nova Religio
Nova Religio is a peer-reviewed religious studies journal that focuses on New Religious Movements. The journal is published by University of California Press, in Berkeley, California...
, and was the editor of Communal Societies from 1987 to 1994. He edits the Religion and Politics book series for the Syracuse University Press. He won the 2003 Distinguished Scholar award from the Communal Studies Association, and the Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights for his book Religion and the Racist Right. He earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1965.
Barkun focuses particularly on millenarian
Millenarianism
Millenarianism is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle. The term is more generically used to refer to any belief centered around 1000 year intervals...
and utopian
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
movements, terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and "doomsday weapon
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
s," and the contemporary influence of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, decades after it was exposed as a hoax. Paul S. Boyer writes that Barkun knows his way around the world of conspiracy theorists
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
better than any other scholar in America.
Works
- Chasing Phantoms: Reality, Imagination, and Homeland Security Since 9/11, The University of North Carolina Press, 2011.
- Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, University of California Press, 2003.
- (ed.) Millennialism and Violence. Routledge, 1996.
- Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity movement, The University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
- Crucible of the Millennium: Burned-Over District of New York in the 1840s, Syracuse University Press, 1986.
- Disaster and the Millennium, Yale University Press, 1974.
- (ed.) Law and the Social System, Lieber-Atherton, 1973.
- with Wesley L. Gould (eds.). Social Science Literature: A Bibliography for International Law, with Wesley L. Gould, 1972.
- International Law and the Social Sciences, with Wesley L. Gould, 1970.
- with Robert W. Gregg (eds.). United Nations System and Its Functions, 1968.
- Law Without Sanctions: Order in Primitive Societies and the World Community, Yale University Press, 1968.
External links
Interviews- C-SpanC-SPANC-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
Video Library: A Culture of Conspiracy. Mar 12, 2004 - New InternationalistNew InternationalistNew Internationalist is a magazine from New Internationalist Publications, a co-operative-run publisher based in Oxford, England. It has editorial and sales offices in Toronto, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand; and New York, USA....
: Interview: Michael Barkun by Chip Berlet, September 2004
Reviews
- McLemee, Scott. "Aryan and Proud", The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. (6 November 1994). Retrieved on 2011-07-12 - Pipes, DanielDaniel PipesDaniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
.[Michael Barkun on Old Conspiracies, New Beliefs]. The New York Sun (13 January 2004). Retrieved on 2011-07-12 - Boyer, Paul S.. The Strange World of Conspiracy Theories. The Christian CenturyThe Christian CenturyThe Christian Century is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of U.S. mainline Protestantism, the biweekly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews books, movies, and music...
(27 July 2004). Retrieved on 2011-07-12 - Pratt, Ray. Review. The Montana Professor (Spring 2005). Retrieved on 2011-07-12
- Daschkea, Dereck. A Review of. Terrorism and Political Violence. Volume 18, Issue 4 (2006). Retrieved on 2011-07-12