Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud have shined a light on the roles of hidden motives, unacknowledged dispositions, and repressed desires in human behavior, and the critical study of religion today would not be possible without their contributions. In this important and jargon-free book, Andrew Dole provides an incisive rereading of the “suspicious explanation” that runs as a common thread running through historical materialism, genealogy, and psychoanalysis. Dole is among the sharpest scholars using philosophical tools to improve the academic study of religions, and his new book offers an original account that will reframe the three masters of suspicion in contemporary terms.

Kevin Schilbrack, Professor of Religious Studies, Appalachian State University, USA

Dole's book provides a theoretical basis for understanding claims about causation and social actors. He unpacks the way that three of the most important social theorists employ suspicion as a way to explain broad social contexts. In doing so, he demonstrates the resonance of their suspicion-based interpretations-their hermeneutics of suspicion-with more contemporary conspiratorial thinking. In providing a genealogy for suspicious interpretations, Dole does a service to scholars researching conspiratorial belief today.

Benjamin E. Zeller, Associate Professor of Religion, Lake Forest College, USA

This fascinating study reconsiders the contribution of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud to modern intellectual currents by shifting attention from their substantive research fields to their practice of explaining large-scale social and historical phenomena through recourse to hidden agents, resulting in what Andrew Dole terms "suspicious" explanations. This is an original study that forges likes between three distinct fields to create new knowledge.

Carole M. Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies, the University of Sydney, Australia

Conspiracy theories can be seen as a popularised version of critical theory, and Reframing the Masters of Suspicion applies this perspective to some of the foundational figures of the field. Critical theory has much to tell us about conspiracy theories, but this timely book challenges scholars to consider what conspiracy theories might say about our theoretical toolbox.

David Robertson, Lecturer in Religious Studies, The Open University, UK