- Email: [email protected]
Globalization and the Conspiracy Theory
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE on BUSINESS, ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT and TOURISM, 30-31 October 2014, Prague, Czech Republic
Globalization and The Conspiracy Theory Calance Madalinaa* a
The „Al.I.Cuza” University of Iasi,Carol I Boolevard,No.11,700506, Romania
Abstract Globalization is a complex long-term process with positive and negative effects that inevitably lead to positive and negative opinions. The economic science offers an abstract understanding of the process, seen as the ultimate internationalization of commerce, capital, finances and labor. The anti-globalist side perceives globalization as the engine of a new imperialism, which replaces the old military expansionism with economic instruments. The conspiratorial vision further sustains that globalization is a subversive process, directed for hundreds of years in order to serve the interest of the global elites. This article aims to explain the conspiratorial perception of globalization considering the exogenous and endogenous factors that maintain the predilection for conspiratorial deductions. By analyzing the literature and the virtual conspiracy rhetoric, we found five conditions that allow the perpetuation of conspiracy theories: (1) the historical precedents (2) the discontinuities of modernity (3) the opposing doctrines and the related social categorizing; (4) the lack of certainty and transparency; (5) the persistence of the myth. We consider that globalization was conducted through many forms of imperialism, revealing the human need for power and domination. Even if there is no clear evidence of a major plot to globalize the economy, we can still show that globalization is a process conducted by intention and individual/group interest - in different time periods, sequentially and systematically - and not by the random choices of unorganized individuals seeking the extension of their profits. This is where the conspiratorial reasoning intervenes (“Cui bono?”), bringing several arguments that support the conspiratorial hypothesis: the intentionality in the economic processes, the need for a causal reasoning and the prevailing private interest in the masse-elites relationship. © 2015 2014 The The Authors. Authors.Published Publishedby byElsevier ElsevierB.V. B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license © (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center Keywords: conspiracy theory; globalization; conspiratorial reasoning; imperialism
* Calance Madalina. Tel.: +40757 395 093. E-mail address: [email protected]
2212-5671 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00474-8
678
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
1. Introduction Once the Enlightenment and the French Revolution designed the modern world, the conspiracy theory became the main alternative version in explaining the revolutionary geopolitical processes. Prima facie, the hegemonic force of globalization in the XXI century is susceptible of the fulfilment of a wide range of predictions, like: one global state, one world government, one global bank, a single currency. The unifying tendency can be seen in all international regulations, in the social global conscience as in the modern technology and communication channels. Also, the universalization of values (including the consumption habits) the industrialization of war and the existence of the supranational institutions are variables that cannot be democratically controlled by the civil society. Moreover, the high-level decisions as imprints of the global control are highly exploited in the conspiracy theory which promotes the vision of a world conducted by group interests. The lack of transparency in the public decisions and the negatively perceived morality of the authorities lead to such conspiratorial hypothesis. 2. Why a Conspiratorial Perception of Globalization? Even if they are strongly associated with paranoid thinking (Hofstadter , 2008) and unscientific reasoning (Goertzel, 2010) the conspiracy theories bring a major contribution to the knowledge plan, since they are reflecting the status of the society within some events and processes beyond its control. Uncertainty and suspicion definitely hovers over the globalization subject. In the economic theory, globalization is understood as the culmination of the internationalization processes occurring in commerce, capital, finances and labour; the core of the long-term process is represented by capitalism and its profit-based relations. A different approach, of the anti-globalization side (nationalists, conservatives, environmentalists, etc.), explains globalization as the engine of a new imperialism, which replaces the old military expansionism by economic instruments (as foreign investments or the market expansion- almost all related to the work of the transnational corporations). The conspiracy theorists are further exploiting this field, concluding that globalization is a subversive process, directed for hundreds of years through the work of the global elites (Cooper, 2010). According to this view, the final goal of globalization would be the plutocratic world domination and the associated concentration of wealth, on the expense of the ordinary population. Although the global conspiracy vision is slightly apocalyptical, there are several logical reasons why the conspiratorial perception is easily maintained. Besides the peculiarities of conspiracy theory that we will mention at the end of this paper, we identified several exogenous factors that allow the creation of a favourable environment for the development and perpetuation of conspiracy theories. The historical precedents; Human history is not only written by great discoveries of great minds but by hegemonic tendencies, wars and ideological struggles. Colonialism and the expansionist policies of the great powers certainly contributed to the globalization process, while free trade was often vitiated and introduced by force, in the pursuit of national economic power (Calance and Diacon, 2013). The best example is the case of the British East India Trade Company, the archetype of today’s transnational corporation and also a monopolistic trading body which instituted an oppressive regime in India and grown opium on its plantations. For the contemporary Adam Smith, the corporation was one of the great enemies of the open market (Robins, 2006). Explaining globalization without referring to the violent origin of the modernity is not an objective way to access the scientific truth. The cleavages between North and South are triggered and maintained by the imperialistic forms of exploitation. The traumatic memory of the European expansion must be brought into the light, not for feeding paranoid anxieties but for encouraging the reflection on the dominant side of human nature, which focuses on power and possession. The conspiratorial hypothesis sustains that this kind of precedent is followed by the fact that global institutions favour the rich North countries at the expense of the underdeveloped South, as a form of instrumental neo-colonialism. Nowadays corporations operate at a higher level, surpassing the state and gaining a huge autonomous power. Corporate globalization is advanced by an alliance between the world’s largest corporations and most powerful governments, aiming to integrate world’s national economies into a single one, in order to achieve freedom in moving goods and money without government interference (Korten, 2001). The civil society is concerned about the ignorance on human lives in the pursuit of quick profits and also about the fact that supranational institutions are
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
679
sacrificing democracy to global corporate rule (Korten,2001). Also the environmental degradation and the job losses related to the activity of large corporations are causing fear and conspiratorial speculations. Other precedents that contribute to the revitalization of conspiracy theories are represented by the belief in secret societies or powerful organizations that govern the system (Illuminati, Freemasonry, the Jewish financial oligarchy, etc.). Such entities are invoked in every key-moment of the national and international history. The discontinuities of modernity; Another explanation for the background of conspiracy theories can be indirectly drawn from the allegations of Giddens (1991) on modernity. The sociologist argues that the transformations involved in modernity are more profound than prior periods, revealing a somber side that was not anticipated even in the most pessimistic prevision; the degrading consequences of the modern industrial work are the large-scale destructive potential to the environment along with the “industrialization of war” (Giddens, 1991). Despite the great achievements that led to a better interpersonal communication, the modern progress failed to ensure a peaceful and secure social order; therefore people’s dissatisfaction target the authorities and the interest groups, easily perceived as conspirators against the society. In the complex and unstable contemporary societies, freedom becomes frightening and demands for disclosure. Given the relativism, the desacralization and the abolition of certainty in Western societies, the conspiracy theory allows the democratic individual to search landmarks for its orientation (Taguieff, 2005). The doctrinal differences; Over time, different doctrines have established a certain division of the society in classes with competing interests. Also, the doctrinal vision orders the position towards the status-quo, the competitors or the alleged enemies. It is a habit that the political opponents accuse each other for conspiring, especially in the electoral campaigns. An American study in 2011 shows that the shifts in the domestic balance of power cause changes in the conspiratorial rhetoric, with the Democrats demonizing the Republicans and vice versa (Uscinski, Parent & Torres, 2011). The authors of the study concluded that the elections and the foreign threats simply fuel conspiracy theories, which remain stable over time due to the shifts in domestic or international power. In a world of opposites, positioning towards globalization can be leftist or rightist, due to the old dispute between liberalism and socialism - two major doctrines that postulate very different the reasons and the mechanisms in politics and economy. There are also several reasons why the two sides criticize globalization. The left ideologues can reject globalization for a variety of reasons: the dependence theory and the underdevelopment in the old colonies (Madgearu, 1936); the social inequity and the unequal trade (Manoilescu, 1996); the imperialistic expansion of capitalism as exploitative process on which benefits the economically powerful groups; the concentration of production and capital that creates monopolies (Lenin, 1916), the power of the banks, etc. On the other hand, the ideologues on the right often indicate a global conspiracy to annihilate the freedom of the society and the market, a conspiracy in which their own government is a participant. Uncertainty and transparency; The questionable morality of the authorities (fraud, corruption, lack of transparency, etc.) can lead to conspiratorial assumptions. In a study by van Proijen and Jostmann (2012) it is shown that the perceived morality of authorities influences conspiracy beliefs particularly when people experience uncertainty. A consistent contribution in the creation of conspiracy theory is brought by secrecy and the lack of transparency in the decisions of governments and supranational institutions. Although we live in the information era, the main decisions that favour globalization are not publicly discussed but taken for granted. The myth; Barkun (2003) believes that the Manichean vision of history maintains an obsessive concern over forces beyond the everyday perception, and, therefore, it produces the conspiracy theory. Karl Popper (1962) held that conspiracy theories are a typical result of the secularization of a religious superstition. In an age supposedly marked by the disappearance of grand explanatory schemes (Vincent, 2006), the conspiracy theory searches the answers to the underlying issues of human existence. The progress and capitalist concentration disrupted the traditional lifestyle and produced the sparks that encouraged conspiratorial thinking. For Girardet (1997) the conspiracy myth reflects the anxiety and the collective confusion of a disordered society. By the personification of evil or by reducing it to an unique reality, the individual is freed from the fear of incomprehensibility. The intrinsic values of conspiracy theory; Conspiracy theories are a response to the imperfection of the world we live in; they are tenacious in giving a meaning to unclear stories with unclear protagonists. Even if the hypothesis of the plot can be false, the reasoning of conspiracy theory is subordinated to the implacable universal question on human action: “Cui bono?” (“Who benefits?”). The great economist Rothbard (1977) saw the conspiracy theorist as a praxeologist which investigates the
680
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
conscious choices of the individuals in achieving their private goals. Except particular cases, whether we are talking about the individual or the institutions, human action it is certainly deliberated and the private goal - selfish or altruistic- overrides the social expectations. Also, we cannot separate the human action from intention. By targeting objectivity, the economic science standardized or cancelled intention in the economic processes. This is the gap that the conspiracy theory tries to fill, certifying intention and appealing to the causal reasoning. The conspiratorial reasoning is folded on the methodological individualism, which claims that the nature of the market is given by the nature of the actors operating within it. The geopolitical changes in the last centuries exposed the possessive nature of the economic expansion that further supported globalization. International commerce and the transnational corporation where mainly extended through imperialistic means, without any concern for the environment or the human life. In a world of differences and scarcity the competition got fiercer, losing its ability to provide that “free-market Eden” expected by the classic economists. Undemocratic decisions were made, because the society is informally ruled by the elites. The economist that focused on the social groups that pleaded for imperialistic policies was Schumpeter (1955); he presented the imperialistic elites as the aristocracy whose main purpose is to support its own existence by perpetuating aggressive wars (p.7). However, the conspiracy theory explores the informal plan of human activity- because there are contracts, agreements and decisions hidden from the public. Every day we have to deal with informal situations that shape our future; ignoring them or considering them irrelevant to the scientific truth is simply wrong. 3. Conclusions By exploring the key-issues of the human existence, the conspiracy theories identify patterns and interest groups in all the major events that shape the world. Globalization is a sum of such events that led to an interconnected world; none of these events would have occurred without intention. The consequences may not be anticipated, but the intention is certainly the prerogative of rationality. Intention precedes the most complex economic processes and the conspiratorial reasoning is a causal reasoning that seeks to identify the motivation and benefits that underlie the human action. Even if there is no clear evidence of a major plot to globalize the economy, we can still show that globalization is a process conducted by intention and individual interest - in different time periods, sequentially and systematically and not by the random choices of unorganized individuals seeking the expansion of their profits. The simple ethical desire for profit does not involve the abuse of power and unilateral benefits with costs for the society. Nowadays conspiracy theories on globalization reiterate patterns created by old myths, entrenched in the social conscience due to their universal explanatory power. Also, the doctrinal differences and the categorization of the society in classes allow the preservation of a contradictory background that feeds conspiratorial opinions. The lack of certainty and transparency complement this picture, where the individuals rationally search the answers for their condition. Acknowledgement This work was co-financed from the European Social Fund through Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/134197 „Performance and excellence in doctoral and postdoctoral research in Economic Sciences Domain in Romania” References Barkun, M. (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy. London: University of California Press. Calance, M. & Diacon, P. (2013). Free trade and the roots of modern imperialism. CES Working Papers, V(4), 455-464. Cooper, B (2010). Towards a theory of conspiracy: Analysing hidden power in the globalization process. ASTU400J: Knowledge and Power in International Relations, University of British Colombia. Giddens, A. (1991). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Girardet, R. (1997). Myths and political mythologies. Iași: European Institute . Goertzel, T. (2010). Conspiracy theories in science. European Molecular Biology Organization, 11(7), 493-499. Hofstadter, R. (2008). The Paranoid Style in American Politics. New York: Vintage. Korten, D.C. (2001). When corporations rule the world. Connecticut: Kumarian Press Inc. Lenin, V.I (1916). Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Retrieved from: http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm Madgearu, V. (1936). Agrarianism, Capitalism, Imperialism. Contributions to the study of Romanian social evolution. Bucharest:The Economist. Manoilescu, M. (1996). The national productive forces and external trade. The protectionism and of the international trade. Bucharest: The
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681 Scientific and Encyclopedic Publisher. Popper, K. (1962). The open society and its enemies. Second Edition, Princeton University Press. Proijen, J-W. & Jostmann, N.B. (2012). Belief in conspiracy theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived morality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 109–115. Robins, N. (2006). The Corporation that Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational. London: Pluto Press. Rothbard, M. (1977). The Conspiracy Theory of History Revisited. Reason, 39–40. Retrieved from: http://mises.org/daily/2809 Schumpeter, J.A (1955). Imperialism and Social Classes: Two Essays. Ludwieg von Mises Institute, Auburn: Alabama. Retrieved from: http://mises.org/books/imperialism.pdf Taguieff, P.A. (2005). La Foire aux illumines : Esoterisme, theorie du complot, extremism. Departement de la Librairie Artheme Fayard: Mille et un nuits. Uscinski, J.E., Parent, J. & Torres, B. (2011). Conspiracy Theories are for Losers. APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper. Retrieved from: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1901755 Vincent, C. (2006). Mapping the invisible: Notes on the reason of conpiracy theories. Transformations, 41-48.
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ScienceDirect Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE on BUSINESS, ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT and TOURISM, 30-31 October 2014, Prague, Czech Republic
Globalization and The Conspiracy Theory Calance Madalinaa* a
The „Al.I.Cuza” University of Iasi,Carol I Boolevard,No.11,700506, Romania
Abstract Globalization is a complex long-term process with positive and negative effects that inevitably lead to positive and negative opinions. The economic science offers an abstract understanding of the process, seen as the ultimate internationalization of commerce, capital, finances and labor. The anti-globalist side perceives globalization as the engine of a new imperialism, which replaces the old military expansionism with economic instruments. The conspiratorial vision further sustains that globalization is a subversive process, directed for hundreds of years in order to serve the interest of the global elites. This article aims to explain the conspiratorial perception of globalization considering the exogenous and endogenous factors that maintain the predilection for conspiratorial deductions. By analyzing the literature and the virtual conspiracy rhetoric, we found five conditions that allow the perpetuation of conspiracy theories: (1) the historical precedents (2) the discontinuities of modernity (3) the opposing doctrines and the related social categorizing; (4) the lack of certainty and transparency; (5) the persistence of the myth. We consider that globalization was conducted through many forms of imperialism, revealing the human need for power and domination. Even if there is no clear evidence of a major plot to globalize the economy, we can still show that globalization is a process conducted by intention and individual/group interest - in different time periods, sequentially and systematically - and not by the random choices of unorganized individuals seeking the extension of their profits. This is where the conspiratorial reasoning intervenes (“Cui bono?”), bringing several arguments that support the conspiratorial hypothesis: the intentionality in the economic processes, the need for a causal reasoning and the prevailing private interest in the masse-elites relationship. © 2015 2014 The The Authors. Authors.Published Publishedby byElsevier ElsevierB.V. B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license © (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center Keywords: conspiracy theory; globalization; conspiratorial reasoning; imperialism
* Calance Madalina. Tel.: +40757 395 093. E-mail address: [email protected]
2212-5671 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and/ peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center doi:10.1016/S2212-5671(15)00474-8
678
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
1. Introduction Once the Enlightenment and the French Revolution designed the modern world, the conspiracy theory became the main alternative version in explaining the revolutionary geopolitical processes. Prima facie, the hegemonic force of globalization in the XXI century is susceptible of the fulfilment of a wide range of predictions, like: one global state, one world government, one global bank, a single currency. The unifying tendency can be seen in all international regulations, in the social global conscience as in the modern technology and communication channels. Also, the universalization of values (including the consumption habits) the industrialization of war and the existence of the supranational institutions are variables that cannot be democratically controlled by the civil society. Moreover, the high-level decisions as imprints of the global control are highly exploited in the conspiracy theory which promotes the vision of a world conducted by group interests. The lack of transparency in the public decisions and the negatively perceived morality of the authorities lead to such conspiratorial hypothesis. 2. Why a Conspiratorial Perception of Globalization? Even if they are strongly associated with paranoid thinking (Hofstadter , 2008) and unscientific reasoning (Goertzel, 2010) the conspiracy theories bring a major contribution to the knowledge plan, since they are reflecting the status of the society within some events and processes beyond its control. Uncertainty and suspicion definitely hovers over the globalization subject. In the economic theory, globalization is understood as the culmination of the internationalization processes occurring in commerce, capital, finances and labour; the core of the long-term process is represented by capitalism and its profit-based relations. A different approach, of the anti-globalization side (nationalists, conservatives, environmentalists, etc.), explains globalization as the engine of a new imperialism, which replaces the old military expansionism by economic instruments (as foreign investments or the market expansion- almost all related to the work of the transnational corporations). The conspiracy theorists are further exploiting this field, concluding that globalization is a subversive process, directed for hundreds of years through the work of the global elites (Cooper, 2010). According to this view, the final goal of globalization would be the plutocratic world domination and the associated concentration of wealth, on the expense of the ordinary population. Although the global conspiracy vision is slightly apocalyptical, there are several logical reasons why the conspiratorial perception is easily maintained. Besides the peculiarities of conspiracy theory that we will mention at the end of this paper, we identified several exogenous factors that allow the creation of a favourable environment for the development and perpetuation of conspiracy theories. The historical precedents; Human history is not only written by great discoveries of great minds but by hegemonic tendencies, wars and ideological struggles. Colonialism and the expansionist policies of the great powers certainly contributed to the globalization process, while free trade was often vitiated and introduced by force, in the pursuit of national economic power (Calance and Diacon, 2013). The best example is the case of the British East India Trade Company, the archetype of today’s transnational corporation and also a monopolistic trading body which instituted an oppressive regime in India and grown opium on its plantations. For the contemporary Adam Smith, the corporation was one of the great enemies of the open market (Robins, 2006). Explaining globalization without referring to the violent origin of the modernity is not an objective way to access the scientific truth. The cleavages between North and South are triggered and maintained by the imperialistic forms of exploitation. The traumatic memory of the European expansion must be brought into the light, not for feeding paranoid anxieties but for encouraging the reflection on the dominant side of human nature, which focuses on power and possession. The conspiratorial hypothesis sustains that this kind of precedent is followed by the fact that global institutions favour the rich North countries at the expense of the underdeveloped South, as a form of instrumental neo-colonialism. Nowadays corporations operate at a higher level, surpassing the state and gaining a huge autonomous power. Corporate globalization is advanced by an alliance between the world’s largest corporations and most powerful governments, aiming to integrate world’s national economies into a single one, in order to achieve freedom in moving goods and money without government interference (Korten, 2001). The civil society is concerned about the ignorance on human lives in the pursuit of quick profits and also about the fact that supranational institutions are
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
679
sacrificing democracy to global corporate rule (Korten,2001). Also the environmental degradation and the job losses related to the activity of large corporations are causing fear and conspiratorial speculations. Other precedents that contribute to the revitalization of conspiracy theories are represented by the belief in secret societies or powerful organizations that govern the system (Illuminati, Freemasonry, the Jewish financial oligarchy, etc.). Such entities are invoked in every key-moment of the national and international history. The discontinuities of modernity; Another explanation for the background of conspiracy theories can be indirectly drawn from the allegations of Giddens (1991) on modernity. The sociologist argues that the transformations involved in modernity are more profound than prior periods, revealing a somber side that was not anticipated even in the most pessimistic prevision; the degrading consequences of the modern industrial work are the large-scale destructive potential to the environment along with the “industrialization of war” (Giddens, 1991). Despite the great achievements that led to a better interpersonal communication, the modern progress failed to ensure a peaceful and secure social order; therefore people’s dissatisfaction target the authorities and the interest groups, easily perceived as conspirators against the society. In the complex and unstable contemporary societies, freedom becomes frightening and demands for disclosure. Given the relativism, the desacralization and the abolition of certainty in Western societies, the conspiracy theory allows the democratic individual to search landmarks for its orientation (Taguieff, 2005). The doctrinal differences; Over time, different doctrines have established a certain division of the society in classes with competing interests. Also, the doctrinal vision orders the position towards the status-quo, the competitors or the alleged enemies. It is a habit that the political opponents accuse each other for conspiring, especially in the electoral campaigns. An American study in 2011 shows that the shifts in the domestic balance of power cause changes in the conspiratorial rhetoric, with the Democrats demonizing the Republicans and vice versa (Uscinski, Parent & Torres, 2011). The authors of the study concluded that the elections and the foreign threats simply fuel conspiracy theories, which remain stable over time due to the shifts in domestic or international power. In a world of opposites, positioning towards globalization can be leftist or rightist, due to the old dispute between liberalism and socialism - two major doctrines that postulate very different the reasons and the mechanisms in politics and economy. There are also several reasons why the two sides criticize globalization. The left ideologues can reject globalization for a variety of reasons: the dependence theory and the underdevelopment in the old colonies (Madgearu, 1936); the social inequity and the unequal trade (Manoilescu, 1996); the imperialistic expansion of capitalism as exploitative process on which benefits the economically powerful groups; the concentration of production and capital that creates monopolies (Lenin, 1916), the power of the banks, etc. On the other hand, the ideologues on the right often indicate a global conspiracy to annihilate the freedom of the society and the market, a conspiracy in which their own government is a participant. Uncertainty and transparency; The questionable morality of the authorities (fraud, corruption, lack of transparency, etc.) can lead to conspiratorial assumptions. In a study by van Proijen and Jostmann (2012) it is shown that the perceived morality of authorities influences conspiracy beliefs particularly when people experience uncertainty. A consistent contribution in the creation of conspiracy theory is brought by secrecy and the lack of transparency in the decisions of governments and supranational institutions. Although we live in the information era, the main decisions that favour globalization are not publicly discussed but taken for granted. The myth; Barkun (2003) believes that the Manichean vision of history maintains an obsessive concern over forces beyond the everyday perception, and, therefore, it produces the conspiracy theory. Karl Popper (1962) held that conspiracy theories are a typical result of the secularization of a religious superstition. In an age supposedly marked by the disappearance of grand explanatory schemes (Vincent, 2006), the conspiracy theory searches the answers to the underlying issues of human existence. The progress and capitalist concentration disrupted the traditional lifestyle and produced the sparks that encouraged conspiratorial thinking. For Girardet (1997) the conspiracy myth reflects the anxiety and the collective confusion of a disordered society. By the personification of evil or by reducing it to an unique reality, the individual is freed from the fear of incomprehensibility. The intrinsic values of conspiracy theory; Conspiracy theories are a response to the imperfection of the world we live in; they are tenacious in giving a meaning to unclear stories with unclear protagonists. Even if the hypothesis of the plot can be false, the reasoning of conspiracy theory is subordinated to the implacable universal question on human action: “Cui bono?” (“Who benefits?”). The great economist Rothbard (1977) saw the conspiracy theorist as a praxeologist which investigates the
680
Calance Madalina / Procedia Economics and Finance 23 (2015) 677 – 681
conscious choices of the individuals in achieving their private goals. Except particular cases, whether we are talking about the individual or the institutions, human action it is certainly deliberated and the private goal - selfish or altruistic- overrides the social expectations. Also, we cannot separate the human action from intention. By targeting objectivity, the economic science standardized or cancelled intention in the economic processes. This is the gap that the conspiracy theory tries to fill, certifying intention and appealing to the causal reasoning. The conspiratorial reasoning is folded on the methodological individualism, which claims that the nature of the market is given by the nature of the actors operating within it. The geopolitical changes in the last centuries exposed the possessive nature of the economic expansion that further supported globalization. International commerce and the transnational corporation where mainly extended through imperialistic means, without any concern for the environment or the human life. In a world of differences and scarcity the competition got fiercer, losing its ability to provide that “free-market Eden” expected by the classic economists. Undemocratic decisions were made, because the society is informally ruled by the elites. The economist that focused on the social groups that pleaded for imperialistic policies was Schumpeter (1955); he presented the imperialistic elites as the aristocracy whose main purpose is to support its own existence by perpetuating aggressive wars (p.7). However, the conspiracy theory explores the informal plan of human activity- because there are contracts, agreements and decisions hidden from the public. Every day we have to deal with informal situations that shape our future; ignoring them or considering them irrelevant to the scientific truth is simply wrong. 3. Conclusions By exploring the key-issues of the human existence, the conspiracy theories identify patterns and interest groups in all the major events that shape the world. Globalization is a sum of such events that led to an interconnected world; none of these events would have occurred without intention. The consequences may not be anticipated, but the intention is certainly the prerogative of rationality. Intention precedes the most complex economic processes and the conspiratorial reasoning is a causal reasoning that seeks to identify the motivation and benefits that underlie the human action. Even if there is no clear evidence of a major plot to globalize the economy, we can still show that globalization is a process conducted by intention and individual interest - in different time periods, sequentially and systematically and not by the random choices of unorganized individuals seeking the expansion of their profits. The simple ethical desire for profit does not involve the abuse of power and unilateral benefits with costs for the society. Nowadays conspiracy theories on globalization reiterate patterns created by old myths, entrenched in the social conscience due to their universal explanatory power. Also, the doctrinal differences and the categorization of the society in classes allow the preservation of a contradictory background that feeds conspiratorial opinions. The lack of certainty and transparency complement this picture, where the individuals rationally search the answers for their condition. Acknowledgement This work was co-financed from the European Social Fund through Sectorial Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU/159/1.5/S/134197 „Performance and excellence in doctoral and postdoctoral research in Economic Sciences Domain in Romania” References Barkun, M. (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy. London: University of California Press. Calance, M. & Diacon, P. (2013). Free trade and the roots of modern imperialism. CES Working Papers, V(4), 455-464. Cooper, B (2010). Towards a theory of conspiracy: Analysing hidden power in the globalization process. ASTU400J: Knowledge and Power in International Relations, University of British Colombia. Giddens, A. (1991). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Girardet, R. (1997). Myths and political mythologies. Iași: European Institute . Goertzel, T. (2010). Conspiracy theories in science. European Molecular Biology Organization, 11(7), 493-499. Hofstadter, R. (2008). The Paranoid Style in American Politics. New York: Vintage. Korten, D.C. (2001). When corporations rule the world. Connecticut: Kumarian Press Inc. Lenin, V.I (1916). Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Retrieved from: http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/index.htm Madgearu, V. (1936). Agrarianism, Capitalism, Imperialism. Contributions to the study of Romanian social evolution. Bucharest:The Economist. Manoilescu, M. (1996). The national productive forces and external trade. The protectionism and of the international trade. Bucharest: The
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