{"id":1382,"date":"2017-03-24T07:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1382"},"modified":"2017-03-22T18:36:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T23:36:33","slug":"outer-space-and-earthly-inequalities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2017\/03\/24\/outer-space-and-earthly-inequalities\/","title":{"rendered":"Outer Space and Earthly Inequalities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by NASA, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the recent <\/span>discovery of numerous Earth-like planets<\/span><\/a> orbiting the same star, Elon Musk\u2019s <\/span>promise to send citizens to the moon<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>increased politicization<\/span><\/a> surrounding the science of climate change, many Americans are looking to the stars for potential solutions and possible new homes. And the nascent <\/span>NewSpace movement<\/span><\/a> — made up of entrepreneurs and advocates looking to commercialize outer space — promises to push space exploration forward at a rapid pace. While it certainly requires rocket science to get to space, social science is beginning to weigh in on what it might mean for social life. <\/span><\/p>\n

The privatization and commodification of public spaces is now moving beyond Earth as governments struggle over control of the atmosphere and outer space. And as new entrepreneurial space companies seek to privatize the sky and profit from new resources and new planets, some worry that existing structures of class and racial inequality will be repeated or even intensified with space colonization. Others, like anthropologist David Valentine, see potential for progressive re-imaginings.<\/span><\/h5>\n