Transplanetary Ecologies Reading Group

Continuous human presence in Low Earth Orbit, increasing expansion of techno-scientific infrastructures beyond Earth, and the extractivist ambitions of the commercial 'New Space' sector call for a reconsideration of the conventional analytical frameworks used to describe emergent (extra)terrestrial political, ecological, and social processes. The Transplanetary Ecologies reading group will interrogate this emerging paradigm, asking questions such as: how do the various infrastructures of space science exact their own ecological tolls? How do contemporary configurations of (neo)colonial power, engendered by progress-oriented visions of contemporary space industries, shape our understanding of extraterrestrial environments? What forms of (trans)planetary ecologies are needed to account for the imaginaries, materialities and entanglements brought about by space science? What do increasing calls for space sustainability mean in practice? 

Over the academic year 2022/2023 we will gather to discuss these questions and more. Our reading group is open to all, irrespective of your level of space related knowledge.

Our first session will take place in hybrid format, both at UCL (IAS Forum, South Wing) and on Zoom, on Wednesday, October 26th at 3pm UTC/4pm BST. For our first meeting we will read ‘Beyond the Anthropocene: UnEarthing an Epoch’ by Lisa Messeri and Valerie Olson. This article can be found online - if you have any difficulty finding it, please email the reading group conveners Makar: makar.tereshin.21@ucl.ac.uk and Rachel: rachel.hill.21@ucl.ac.uk for assistance.

Reading suggestions welcome!