I’ve been talking a lot about my new book Off-Earth lately. But there’s another book out this month that I had a hand in bringing about, one that readers of this newsletter would likely be interested in: an anthology I co-edited called Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration.
Reclaiming Space asks: What would space exploration be like if we prioritized, or even simply acknowledged, the perspectives and value systems of individuals who are disabled, aren't white, aren't male, or aren't characteristically Western in their values? What can these perspectives teach us all about space exploration and its value (or even its potential for harm) that cannot be easily recognized or appreciated under the NewSpace status quo? And what should we be doing differently when it comes to space exploration? It includes twenty-seven contributed chapters, written by artists, philosophers, archaeologists, anthropologists, astronomers, lawyers, science fiction writers, and more.
Co-editing a volume is such different experience from writing the whole thing yourself: on the one hand, it requires you to give up a certain amount of control over the book’s topics, arguments, and stylistic choices (plus there’s all the cat-herding necessary to bring everything together on time). But on the other hand, it’s so much more collaborative and less isolating than having to do it all by yourself, and you get to read such amazing and thought-provoking perspectives!
For example, here are a handful of my favorite chapters from Reclaiming Space:
In “Space from Āfār: From Africa Across the Indian Ocean to the Pacific”, polymath Mukesh Chiman Bhatt describes how non-Western cultures have been envisioning human space travel for thousands of years, and argues that this knowledge should play a larger role in our plans for humanity’s future in space.
In “Contact Zones and Outer Space Environments: A Feminist Archaeological Analysis of Space Habitats”, space archaeologist Alice Gorman explores the strong resistance to designing space environments for women’s bodies throughout the history of human space exploration.
In “Desire, Duty, and Discrimination: Is There an Ethical Way to Select Humans for Noah’s Ark?”, bioethicist Evie Kendal analyzes the ethics of different proposals for preserving diversity in a population of space settlers.
In “The Language of Space”, fiction author Mary Robinette Kowal examines the challenge of representing the rich variety of Earth’s languages in space while also allowing multicultural crew members to communicate with each other.
In “African Space Art as a New Perspective on Space Law” legal scholar Saskia Vermeylan and artist Jacque Njeri discuss Africanfuturist space art, including Njeri’s fantastic MaaSci project, and encourage the use of Africanfuturist values in the interpretation of legal principles in space law.
That’s just a small sample of the topics covered in Reclaiming Space. If you’re hungry for more, you can order a hardcover copy direct from Oxford University Press or an ebook version from any major ebook seller.
Other News
Off-Earth received an excellent review from Foreword Reviews, which called it “Imaginative and captivating… Brilliant and though-provoking”.
I joined Leah Crane for a bonus episode of the New Scientist Weekly podcast to talk about the thorny issues of space ethics.
I was also interviewed for Futureproof With Jonathan Mccrea on the Irish radio network Newstalk.
And because this is apparently Radio Week for me, I was also delighted to be interviewed for NPR’s 1A show.