From Alternative Lifestyles to Conspiracy Theories: A Study among Healthy-Living Enthusiasts in Hradec Králové
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46585/cargo.2026.1.195Keywords:
conspiracy theories, conspirituality, alternative lifestyle, alternative medicine, healthy-living, Czech RepublicAbstract
The research focuses on the phenomenon of conspirituality and its manifestations in the Czech context, with a probe into the specific context of healthy-living enthusiasts. It strives to reconstruct the categories respondents use to explain their healthy optimal lifestyle and trace possible elements of conspiracy thinking in it. The research sample consists of adherents of alternative nutrition, alternative spirituality, alternative medicine, and conspiracy narratives from Hradec Králové, a regional centre in East Bohemia, a university and industrial city with a population of roughly 100,000 inhabitants. The first part of the article consists of two key themes essential to the research: the relationship between alternative worldviews and conspiracy theories, and the concept of conspirituality. The central section presents the research methodology, followed by an analysis of the categories derived from the grounded theory approach. These categories form a continuum ranging from alternative lifestyles to conspiracy theories.
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