He is well known, among many other things, for looking at the close relationship between power and knowledge. However, the discussion often did not revolve around the models on offer, but on broader issues of attitudes towards existing structures of knowledge, and the institutions that supported and presented these structures. Throughout the weekend, multiple competing models of Earth shapes were suggested, including “classic” flat Earth, domes, ice walls, diamonds, puddles with multiple worlds inside, and even the Earth as the inside of a giant cosmic egg.

What’s important here is not necessarily whether anyone believes the Earth is flat or not, but instead what the flat-Earthers' resurgence and public conventions tell us about science and knowledge in the 21 st century. Let me begin by stating quickly that I’m not really interested in discussing if the Earth if flat or not (for the record, I’m happily a “globe-Earther”)-and I’m not seeking to mock or denigrate this community. By exploring this relationship, we can begin to understand why there is a swelling resurgence of flat-Earthers. While flat-Earthers seem to trust and support scientific methods, what they don’t trust is scientists, and the established relationships between 'power' and 'knowledge.' This relationship between power and knowledge has long been theorized by sociologists. Indeed, as one presenter noted early on, flat-Earthers try to “look for multiple, verifiable evidence” and advised attendees to “always do your own research and accept you might be wrong.' The weekend in no small part revolved around discussing and debating science, with lots of time spent running, planning, and reporting on the latest set of flat-Earth experiments and models.

Yes, flat-Earthers do seem to place a lot of emphasis and priority on scientific methods and, in particular, on observable facts. There was also a lot of team-building, networking, debating, workshops-and scientific experiments. It was well attended, and it wasn’t just three days of speeches and YouTube clips (though, granted, there was a lot of this). Getty ImagesSpeakers recently flew in from around (or perhaps, across?) the Earth for a three-day event held in Birmingham: the UK’s first ever public Flat Earth Convention.

Flat earth convention