Holland's own Kennedy Affair: conspiracy theories on the murder of Pim Fortuyn

Abstract

"In this article the author will analyze the functioning of conspiracy dispositives from the bottom up and the nexus between conspiracy dispositives and security dispositives in the context of the political rise of right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn and the various conspiracy theories that arose after his murder and the effects these conspiracy theories had on Dutch politics and society. These counter-conspiracy theories revolved mainly around the suggestion that the political establishment was responsible for the murder or at least had turned a blind eye to it. The analysis shows that although a small Part of the conspiracy constructions can rightfully be understood as counter-conspiracy dispositives raised bottom up, in the majority of the cases a blurring can be noted between counter-conspiracy dispositives and conspiracy dispositives. This can be explained by the fact that - parts of - the seemingly counter-conspiracy dispositives were initiated, adopted and instrumentalized by actors from 'above': actors from the Dutch political and cultural establishment. In fact, an intra-elite competition was being battled out." (author's abstract)