Policy Press

The Imposter as Social Theory

Thinking with Gatecrashers, Cheats and Charlatans

Edited by Steve Woolgar, Else Vogel, David Moats and Claes-Fredrik Helgesson

Published

Aug 1, 2022

Page count

350 pages

ISBN

978-1529213089

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

May 26, 2021

Page count

350 pages

ISBN

978-1529213072

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

May 26, 2021

Page count

350 pages

ISBN

978-1529213096

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

May 26, 2021

Page count

350 pages

ISBN

978-1529213096

Dimensions

Imprint

Bristol University Press
The Imposter as Social Theory

In the media

'Imposters and Society' in The Measure of Everyday Life podcast

On our blog: Impostering: A contemporary preoccupation

The figure of the imposter can stir complicated emotions, from intrigue to suspicion and fear. But what insights can these troublesome figures provide into the social relations and cultural forms from which they emerge?

Edited by leading scholars in the field, this volume explores the question through a diverse range of empirical cases, including magicians, spirit possession, fake Instagram followers, fake art and fraudulent scientists.

Proposing ‘thinking with imposters’ as a valuable new tool of analysis in the social sciences and humanities, this revolutionary book shows how the figure of the imposter can help upend social theory.

Steve Woolgar is Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Linköping University and Professor of Marketing Emeritus at Oxford University.

Else Vogel is Assistant Professor at University of Amsterdam.

David Moats is Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki.

Claes-Fredrik Helgesson is Professor and Research Director at the Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society (CIRCUS) at Uppsala University.

Thinking With Imposters: The Imposter As Analytic ~ Else Vogel, David Moats, Steve Woolgar and Claes-Fredrik Helgesson

The Desire to Believe and Belong: Wannabes and Their Audience in a North American Cultural Context ~ Caroline Rosenthal

A Menagerie of Imposters and Truth-Tellers: Diederik Stapel and the Crisis in Psychology ~ Maarten Derksen

Learning From Fakes: A Relational Approach ~ Catelijne Coopmans

Imitations of Celebrity ~ Mandy Merck

Natural Imposters?: A Cuckoos View of Social Relations ~ Martin Abbott and Daniel Large

Conjuring Imposters: The Extraordinary Illusions of Mundanity ~ Brian Rappert

States of Imposture: Scroungerphobia and the Choreography of Suspicion~ James Kaufmann

The Face of ‘The Other’: Biometric Facial Recognition, Imposters, and the Art of Outplaying Them ~ Kristina Grünenberg

Faking Spirit Possession: Creating ‘Epistemic Murk’ in Bahian Candomblé ~ Mattijs van de Port

The Guerrilla’s ID Card: Flatland Against Fatland in Colombia ~ Olga Restrepo Forero and Malcolm Ashmore

Good Enough Imposters: The Market for Instagram Followers in Indonesia and Beyond ~ Johan Lindquist

Thinking Beyond the Imposter: Gatecrashing Un/Welcoming Borders ~ Fredy Mora-Gamez

Postscript: Thinking With Imposters – What Were They Thinking? ~ Agnes, Forrest Carter, Civet Coffee Bean, Cuckoo, Iansá and Oxum, Sarah Jane, Han Van Meegeren, David Rosenhahn, Diederik Stapel and Jorge Enrique Briceño Suárez