Space Expansionism and Criminology: The Emerging Terrain of Crime, Harm, and Violence

We have entered a recent zeitgeist, the era of the ＂new space age＂, driven by billionaires, technological advancements, and a few dominating state powers. While the race to space may be said to offer ＂new＂ opportunities for ＂humanity＂, we ask, is it predicated on the same logics and historical patterns of the past? This question guides our approach and critical assessment of human expansionism into space. Space Expansionism and Criminology: The Emerging Terrain of Crime, Harm, and Violence offers readers a critical analysis of space expansionism and today’s race to space that has come to define our contemporary era. Taking a retrospective and prospective approach, we delve into the choices being made, the justifications being offered, and those excluded from the hegemonic discourse of the benefits of humans as extraplanetary beings. Space Expansionism and Criminology includes chapters on the historical roots of today’s space race, weaponization and realpolitik, space junk and debris, space mining and resource extrapolation, the burgeoning space tourism market, the manufacturing of space nostalgia from the 1950s through today, and efforts towards, and claims-making for, space colonization to save Earth and humanity.

Dawn L. Rothe is a professor of criminology in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, at Florida Atlantic University. Her research interests and publications have a broad focus on issues of power, inequality, capitalism/neoliberalism, violence, and harms, particularly those related to crimes of the powerful.

Victoria E. Collins is a professor and Chair of Justice Studies, at Eastern Kentucky University. Her interests and publications focus on crimes of the powerful, state crime, white collar and corporate crime, neoliberalism, and victimology, all areas that inform the study of space expansionism.