Staying with the really fake. A searchery through far-right alternative realities – from synthetic media to conspiracy theories and practices of resistance

Abstract

This Master's thesis explores the rise of far-right communicative fascism through the lens of Really Fake (Shah et al., 2021) – a contemporary condition in which truth, fiction, and simulation blur across algorithmic infrastructures and synthetic media. Anchored in autotheory (Fournier, 2021) and transversal design, the work investigates how misinformation, virality, and platformed realities sustain authoritarian politics in the U.S. and Italy. Through case studies such as Donald Trump’s re-election and Giorgia Meloni’s populism, it examines the mythopoetic role of conspiracy theories as participatory tools for far-right world-making. Rather than opposing fake with truth, the project proposes conspiring – a reclaimed, collective methodology of resistance grounded in kinship, joy, and care. In doing so, it reorients synthetic media toward emancipatory fictions and subverts dominant narratives from within. Drawing from thinkers including Donna Haraway, Wendy Chun, and Alberto Toscano, the thesis crosses media theory, feminist thought, and political aesthetics to frame Staying with the Really Fake as searchery for forms of collective reality-making.