Barkun quoted in Foreign Policy article on QAnon

October 13, 2020

Foreign Policy

Michael Barkun

Political Science Department

Media & Journalism

U.S. Elections

United States

Foreign Policy

Michael Barkun

"It might seem strange to call an online conspiracy theory an apocalyptic movement," says Professor Emeritus Michael Barkun. "But at the heart of such beliefs, from those who expected the Second Coming in 19th-century America to their counterparts in the Taiping Rebellion across the Pacific, is the idea of revelation. Believers are offered some special insight into the future and the knowledge that a great change is coming. That’s part of what made QAnon so appealing," he says. Read more in the Foreign Policy article, "QAnon’s Sound and Fury." 10/13/20