The Americas have always been fertile grounds for millenarian movements, which found their expression through the spirit of revolutionaries and the practical aspirations of the founding fathers. More recently, millenarian themes have also marked the political fringe in spectacular and often violent ways. These eleven original essays, authored by established scholars in the field, explore the ways in which millenarianism pervades late twentieth century life, explain how ancient ways of millenarian thinking affect modern thinking, examine the theoretical roots of millenarianism, and detail a number of millenarian movements. Filling an important gap in the existing literature, the essays provide a thorough analysis of the phenomenon of modern millenarianism, focusing on the Americas and on modern controversial movements. This unique and important volume will facilitate analysis and comparison of the various aspects of millenarianism in the Americas.

The first section is comprised of essays that examine the meaning of millennial ideas, and why and how millennial themes can be found across history, from Robespierre's ideas to "The X-FileS." The second section of the book contains essays that focus on specific millennial movements. These essays explore and reflect the wide range of millenarianism in the modern Americas, from Black and White supremacist movements to American fundamentalists, and from the UFO subculture to Catholic sects. This unique collection of essays clearly and carefully explores the millennial urge, the theory and practice of millenarianism, and its expression in the Americas.

This book offers a thoughtful analysis of how and why conspiracy thinking has become a popular mode of political discourse in the United States. How did conspiracy thinking become such a significant and surprisingly widely accepted form of political thinking in the United States? What compels people to respond to devastating, unpredictable events-terrorist acts, wars, natural disasters, economic upheavals-with the conviction that nothing is a coincidence, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected? Conspiracy Rising: Conspiracy Thinking and American Public Life argues that while outlandish paranoid theories themselves may seem nonsensical, the thread of conspiracy thinking throughout American history is a both a byproduct of our democratic form of government and a very real threat to it. From the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, and the Freemasons to the government hiding aliens and faking the moon landing; from the New World Order to the Obama "Birthers," the book explores the enduring popularity of a number of American conspiracy theories, showing how the conspiracy hysteria that may provoke disdain and apathy in the general public, can become a source of dangerous extremism.

In the summer of 1980, Dave Foreman, along with four conservationist colleagues, founded the millenarian movement Earth First!. A provocative counterculture that ultimately hoped for the fall of industrial civilization, the movement emerged in response to rapid commercial development of the American wilderness. "The earth should come first" was a doctrine that championed both biocentrism (an emphasis on maintaining the earth's full complement of species) and biocentric equality (the belief that all species are equal). Martha Lee was successful in gaining extraordinary access to information about the movement, as well as interviews with its members. While following Earth First's development and methods, she illustrates the inherent instability and the dangers associated with all millenarian movements. This book will be of interest to environmentalists and those interested in political science and sociology.