Abstract

ANTUNES ALMEIDA, Rafael. Between Conspiracy, Suspicion and Absurdity: Contributions to an Interpretation of the Flat Earth Movement. Rev. colomb. antropol. [online]. 2023, vol.59, n.3, pp.101-124.  Epub Sep 01, 2023. ISSN 0486-6525.  https://doi.org/10.22380/2539472x.2516.

This paper is an attempt to present an anthropological interpretation of Flat Earthers, a movement that claims that the Earth is flat, that there is a world conspiracy that hides the aforementioned secret and that the Flat Earthers are the real scientists. To address these topics, the paper draws on the literature on the concept of post-truth and the discussion on the “repugnant others” (Harding 1991), as valuable references to interpret the interviews conducted with members of the self-proclaimed Flat Earth movement. They are here presented in comparison with another community of paracientists, the UFO researchers studied by the author between 2011 and 2014. It is claimed that both UFO researchers and Flat Earthers accuse the scientists of dogmatism (Cross 2000). However, among those who hold the argument that the Earth is flat there is an intensification of the general suspicion about science.

Keywords : anthropology of science; post-truth; flat earth; conspiracy theories; ufology; UFO.

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