The Power of the Flat Earth Idea
History from the Marginalised
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Beschreibung
“Guimont's eye-opening book succeeds brilliantly in revealing Flat Earth science not as a mere anachronism or conspiracy, but as a multifaceted phenomenon that has a truly global history. Taking in slavery, Pan-Africanism, UFOs and more, this is a story that sheds light on many features of mainstream science, power and culture, both in the past and in our confusing present. A triumph!”
—Charlotte Sleigh, Lecturer in Social Studies of Science, UCL
“At a time when the very idea of ‘facts’ is once again in question, this book serves as a guide to how we got here; a timely and much-needed romp through the history of a bizarre idea for our new age of irrationality. For the curious, for scholars of the Weird, or for believers unaware of their own movement's past, The Power of the Flat Earth Idea deserves a place on the shelf.”
—Cian Gill, host of the podcast Wide Atlantic Weird
This book explores the history of the Flat Earth idea and its advocates to determine what the political dimensions inherent to the idea of a Flat Earth are. For thousands of years, the belief that the Earth is flat has been a minority view expressed by those who are necessarily opposed to the worldviews of the hegemonic scientific, cultural, and political institutions of their time, across various contexts. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the most prominent of those institutions were the British Empire and United States, which viewed science as integral to their nations and empire-building programs. As such, to those who opposed the projects of those countries—White and Black alike—the idea of a Flat Earth was a useful ideology that became combined with anti-colonial and anti-racist advocacy across the Atlantic. This is an approach that has been almost entirely absent from academic research not only of the Flat Earth movement, but of anti-colonialism as well.
Edward Guimont is Associate Professor of World History at Bristol Community College, Fall River, Massachusetts, USA.
This book explores the history of the Flat Earth idea and its advocates to determine what the political dimensions inherent to the idea of a Flat Earth are. For thousands of years, the belief that the Earth is flat has been a minority view expressed by those who are necessarily opposed to the worldviews of the hegemonic scientific, cultural, and political institutions of their time, across various contexts. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the most prominent of those institutions were the British Empire and United States, which viewed science as integral to their nations and empire-building programs. As such, to those who opposed the projects of those countries—White and Black alike—the idea of a Flat Earth was a useful ideology that became combined with anti-colonial and anti-racist advocacy across the Atlantic. This is an approach that has been almost entirely absent from academic research not only of the Flat Earth movement, but of anti-colonialism as well.
Explores the history of the Flat Earth idea and its advocates in recent history Shows how it became combined with anti-colonial and anti-racist advocacy across the Atlantic Determines what the political dimensions inherent to the idea of a Flat Earth are
Autor*in
Edward Guimont
Themen in »The Power of the Flat Earth Idea«
British Empire anti-colonialism anti-racism conspiracy theories pseudoscience
Stimmen zu »The Power of the Flat Earth Idea«
“Flat earthism is an extreme test case for historians and communicators of science who seek to make sense of heterodox scientific perspectives. Guimont’s eye-opening book succeeds brilliantly in revealing flat earth science not as mere anachronism or conspiracy, but as a multifaceted phenomenon that has a truly global [sic] history. Taking in slavery, PanAfricanism, UFOs and more, this is also a story that sheds light on many features of mainstream science, power and culture, both in the past and in our confusing present. A triumph!” (Charlotte Sleigh, Lecturer in Social Studies of Science, University College London, Dept of Science & Technology Studies; former editor of the British Journal for the History of Science; and former president of the British Society for the History of Science)
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