Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T16:11:14.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Outer Space and New Frontiers to Environmental Imaginations

from Part III - Culture and Environmental Sociology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2020

By
James S. Ormrod
Edited by
Katharine Legun ,
Julie C. Keller ,
Michael Carolan  and
Michael M. Bell
Katharine Legun
Affiliation:
Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands
Julie C. Keller
Affiliation:
University of Rhode Island
Michael Carolan
Affiliation:
Colorado State University
Michael M. Bell
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores the importance and usefulness of considering outer space as an environment from the perspective of environmental sociology. It identifies that, whilst 'outer space' may imply a space outside of the human environment, global society is increasingly dependent on space technology. Although our notions of 'the environment' are often limited to terrestrial natures, this chapter follows other recent arguments in advocating a closer examination of how different 'environments' are being produced in outer space. The chapter focusses on three different, though inter-related, ways in which the outer space environment is materially, discursively, and imaginately produced. First, it considers outer space as an 'abundant' environment, in which outer space is seen as an infinite supply of resources for economic expansion. Second, it considers outer space as a 'risk' environment crowded with debris that threatens the sustainability of Earth's orbit in particular. Third, it considers outer space as a 'wilderness' environment to be valued either because of its intrinsic worth or because of the role it can play in addressing human destructiveness. The chapter concludes by expressing hope that the lessons learnt from terrestrial environmental sociology can improve our relationship with the space environment in pivotal times.

Keywords

Outer spacespace debrisriskspace resourceslimits to growthwilderness
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology , pp. 243 - 261
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beck, U. (1995). Ecological Politics in an Age of Risk. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Beck, U. (1997). The Reinvention of Politics. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Beck, U. (1999). World Risk Society. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Beck, U. (2006). Cosmopolitan Vision. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Beck, U. (2009). World at Risk. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Beery, J. (2012). State, capital and spaceships. Geoforum, 43(1), 25–34.Google Scholar
Beery, J. (2016). Terrestrial geographies in and of outer space. In Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 47–70.Google Scholar
Best, S., & Kellner, D. (2001). The Postmodern Adventure. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brearley, A., (2005). Faster than a speeding bullet. Astropolitics, 3, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cockell, C. S., & Horneck, G. (2004). A planetary park system for Mars. Space Policy, 20, 291–5.Google Scholar
Cockell, C. S., & Horneck, G. (2006). Planetary parks. Space Policy, 22(4), 256–61.Google Scholar
Cohen, E. (2017). The paradoxes of space tourism. Tourism Recreation Research, 42(1), 22–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, L. (2017). Moon shot. Geographical, August 2017.Google Scholar
Collis, C. (2009). The geostationary orbit. In Bell, D., & Parker, M. (eds) Space Travel and Culture. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 47–65.Google Scholar
Collis, C. (2016). Res Communis? In Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 270–91.Google Scholar
Cosgrove, D. (1994). Contested global visions: One-World, Whole-Earth, and the Apollo space photographs. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 84: 270–94.Google Scholar
de Goede, M., & Randalls, S. (2009). Precaution, preemption. Environment and Planning D, 27, 859–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (2007). Cosmic Society: Towards a Sociology of the Universe. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (2009). Globalization of space. In Turner, B. S. (ed.) The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies. London: Routledge, 531–53.Google Scholar
Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (eds) (2016). The Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Ehrenfeld, D. (1981). The Arrogance of Humanism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ehricke, K. A. (1972). In-depth exploration of the solar system and its utilization for the benefit of Earth. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 187, 427–56.Google Scholar
Enzensberger, H. M. (1996). A critique of political ecology. In Benton, T. (ed.) The Greening of Marxism. London: Routledge, 17–49.Google Scholar
ESA (2017a). Call for a sustainable future in space. Available: www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Debris/Call_for_a_sustainable_future_in_spaceGoogle Scholar
ESA (2017b). About SSA. Available: www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness/About_SSAGoogle Scholar
Foust, J. (2014). Companies have technologies, but not business plans, for orbital debris cleanup. Space News. Available: http://spacenews.com/42656companies-have-technologies-but-not-business-plans-for-orbital-debris/Google Scholar
Gagnon, B. (2005). Come Together, Right Now. Topsham, ME: Just Write Books.Google Scholar
Goodwin, J., Jasper, J. M., & Polletta, F. (eds.) (2001). Passionate Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gorman, A. (2009). The archaeology of space exploration. In Bell, D., & Parker, M. (eds) Space Travel and Culture. Maldon, MA: Blackwell, 132–45.Google Scholar
Harvey, D. (2000). Spaces of Hope. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Harvey, D. (2003). The New Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Harvey, D. (2015). Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. London: Profile.Google Scholar
Haynes, R. H. (1990). Ecce ecopoiesis: Playing God on Mars. In MacNiven, D. (ed.) Mortal Expertise. London: Routledge, 161–83.Google Scholar
Henry, H., & Taylor, A. (2009). Re-thinking Apollo: Envisioning environmentalism in space. In Bell, D. & Parker, M. (eds.) Space Travel and Culture: From Apollo to Space Tourism. London: Sage, 190–203.Google Scholar
Hudgins, E. L. (ed.) (2002). Space: The Free Market Frontier. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.Google Scholar
Insinna, V. (2016). Space Junk Waits for No One. Defense News. Available: www.defensenews.com/space/2016/11/17/space-junk-waits-for-no-one-how-the-trump-administration-must-handle-a-growing-crisis/Google Scholar
Kilgore, D. D. (2003). Astrofuturism. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Klinger, J. (2017). Environmental geography and outer space. In Dunnett, O. Maclaren, A. S., Klinger, J. Lane, K. M. D., & Sage, D. (eds) ‘Geographies of outer space’, Progress in Human Geography, Available: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309132517747727Google Scholar
Klinger, J. (2019). Environmental geopolitics and outer space. Geopolitics. Available online: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14650045.2019.1590340Google Scholar
Lane, K. M. D. (2011). Geographies of Mars. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lane, K. M. D. (2017). Historical geographies of outer space. In Dunnett, O. Maclaren, A. S., Klinger, J. Lane, K. M. D., & Sage, D. (eds) ‘Geographies of outer space’, Progress in Human Geography, Available: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0309132517747727Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (1996). Mining the Sky. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
MacDonald, F. (2007). Anti-Astropolitik. Progress in Human Geography, 31(5), 592–615.Google Scholar
McKay, C. (1990). Does Mars have rights? An approach to the environmental ethics of planetary engineering. In MacNiven, D. (ed.) Moral Expertise. London: Routledge, 184–97.Google Scholar
Martinez, P. (2018). Development of an international compendium of guidelines for the long-term sustainability of space activities. Space Policy 43(1): 13–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadows, D. H., Randers, J., & Meadows, D. L. (1972). The Limits to Growth. New York: Earth Island.Google Scholar
Merchant, C. (2003). Reinventing Eden. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
NASA (n.d.) Orbital Debris Program Office Frequently Asked Questions. Available: https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faq.html#30000Google Scholar
O’Hanlon, M. (2004). Neither Star Wars nor Sanctuary. New York: Brookings.Google Scholar
Olson, V., & Messeri, L. (2015). Beyond the Anthropocene: Un-earthing an epoch. Environment and Society: Advances in Research, 6(1): 28–47.Google Scholar
Ormrod, J. S. (2012). Leader Psychobiography and Social Movement Studies. The Psychoanalytic Review, 99(5), 743–79.Google Scholar
Ormrod, J. S. (2013). Beyond World Risk Society? Environment & Planning D, 31(4), 727–44.Google Scholar
Ormrod, J. S. (2014). Fantasy and Social Movements. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Ormrod, J. S. (2015). Space Junk? Capitalism Nature Socialism, 26(3), 115–17.Google Scholar
Pace, S. (2017). ‘Space development, law, and values’, IISL Galloway Space Law Symposium, Cosmos Club, Washington, DC, 13 December 2017.Google Scholar
Parks, L. (2012). When satellites fall. In Parks, L., & Schwoch, J.(eds) Down to Earth. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 221–37.Google Scholar
Plumwood, V. (2001). Environmental Culture. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Reiman, S. (2009). Is space an environment? Space Policy, 25(2), 81–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rex, D. (1998). Will space run out of space? Space Policy, 14, 95–105.Google Scholar
Rincon, P. (2009). Standing watch over a crowded space. BBC News. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7916582.stmGoogle Scholar
Rolston, H. (1986). The preservation of natural value in the solar system. In Hargrove, E. C. (ed.) Beyond the Spaceship Earth. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 140–82.Google Scholar
Smith, N. (2008). Uneven Development, 3rd Edition. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.Google Scholar
Smith, N. (2009). Nature as accumulation strategy. Available: http://neil-smith.net/articles/nature-as-accumulation-strategyGoogle Scholar
Spennemann, D. H. R. (2004). The ethics of treading on Neil Armstrong’s footprints. Space Policy, 20(4): 279–90.Google Scholar
Spector, S., & Higham, J. E. S. (2019). Space tourism, the Anthropocene, and sustainability. In Cohen, E., & Spector, S. (eds) Space Tourism: The Elusive Dream. Bingley, UK: Emerald, 245–62.Google Scholar
Swyngedouw, E. (2007). Impossible ‘sustainability’ and the post-colonial condition. In Krueger, R., & Gibbs, D. (eds) The Sustainable Development Paradox. New York: Guilford Press, 13–40.Google Scholar
Triscott, N. (2016). Transmissions from the noosphere: Contemporary art and outer space. In Dickens, P., & Ormrod, J. S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Society, Culture and Outer Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 414–44.Google Scholar
Turner, F. (1990). Life on Mars. Harper’s Magazine, 279(1671), 33–40.Google Scholar
Viikari, L. (2008). The Environmental Element in Space Law. London: E. J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, M. (2003). Space ethics and protection of the space environment. Space Policy, 19(1), 47–52.Google Scholar
Williamson, M. (2006). Space: The Fragile Frontier. Reston, VA: AIAA.Google Scholar
Williamson, R. A. (2012). Assuring the sustainability of space activities. Space Policy, 28(3), 154–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, D. (2009). Colliding satellites. Available: www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nwgs/SatelliteCollision-2–12-09.pdfGoogle Scholar
Zhao, Y. (2004). The 1972 Liability Convention. Space Policy, 20, 117–22.Google Scholar
Zubrin, R. M. (1999). Entering Space. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×