Keywords for Social Studies of Outer Space

This groundbreaking open access collection of over twenty-five keyword entries from leading scholars in the emerging field of critical outer space studies offers stimulating interdisciplinary conversations about humanity’s relationship with the cosmos.

National and commercial space activity has reached a level of political, economic, and cultural relevance unknown since the height of the Cold War. From the launching of satellite mega-constellations and efforts to deflect Earth-threatening asteroids, to projects to settle Mars and return to the moon, the hype, imaginaries, and investments now clustering around space activity raise urgent questions about how outer space relates to larger systems of power. Who has the right to explore and settle space? What histories of colonialism and capitalism shape current space ambitions? In what ways do space exploration projects reflect and reproduce Earth-bound inequalities? How might alternative, more just and environmentally sustainable futures in space be imagined?

Outer space has long generated radical reimaginings and reconceptualisations of humanity and its futures. Taking inspiration from the weird and generative possibilities of outer space, this collection offers new forms of theory and analysis for examining the varied ways we relate to space. A key resource in this exciting and vibrant new area of critical enquiry, this collection is an essential read for those seeking to better understand the social, cultural, and political impacts of the accelerating transformation of outer space into a site of economic ambition, geopolitical contestation, and environmental concern.