Holocaust denial discourse: A conspiracy/theory

Abstract

Despite claims of rising Holocaust denial, empirical evidence suggests that Holocaust denial has been in decline and remains a fringe belief. Drawing on 14 months of fieldwork at Holocaust memorial museums in the United States and Canada, and a literature review of scholarly, archival, and popular sources, this study examines Holocaust denial discourse through the anthropological lens of “conspiracy theory.” Anthropological literature frames conspiracy theories as both propaganda tactics and meaning-making idioms. Drawing on these insights, I argue that Holocaust denial discourse functions as a political tool—serving both neoliberal and Zionist ends—and is also motivated by banal and affective phenomena. These findings suggest that understanding the socio-political structures Holocaust denial discourse sustains requires attention to its psycho-social dynamics, rather than dismissing it as “paranoid” or exclusively “Zionist.”