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This book explores the role of private mining rights in the utopian imaginary of space colonisation. It presents a transdisciplinary account of the new and evolving legislative frameworks that have been established in anticipation of commercial exploitation of the mineral resources of the off-world frontier. Written in an engaging style, the book investigates a novel case study in the history of capitalism and 'the commons': the emergence of a nascent space mining industry, undergirded by a contentious legislative framework. In 2015, the US passed laws that would recognise the claims of US corporations to own and sell space resources. This unilateral act of pre-emptive law-making would appear to contravene the terms of the UN Outer Space Treaty (1967), which declared that the exploration and use of outer space should be 'for the benefit of all mankind' and 'not subject to national appropriation'.
Using this central dynamic between privately held mining rights and outer space as a 'global commons', Matthew Johnson constructs an historical sociology of space mining - from the deep historical roots of common and private property to the contemporary networks of neoliberalism that have engaged with the commercialisation of space activity. The anticipatory expansion of private property claims beyond the Earth both resonates with and problematises the 'terrain' of political history, such as the tensions between states and markets, public law and private power, 'the commons' and exclusive property. The emerging cosmopolitics of off-world private property mirrors (and is often explicitly embedded within) neoliberal geopolitics, prompting urgent questions about how we can reaffirm principles of democracy and 'common heritage' in the international laws of Earth and space. This book is compelling reading for anyone interested in the social study of space, law, economics, technology, politics and property rights.
List of contents
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. NewSpace and neoliberalism
3. Enclosing the space commons? Off-world property through the lens of political history
4. On mineral sovereignty: state-corporate appropriation and the power of mining capital
5. Making and re-making the 'space constitution'
6. Privateering the cosmic frontier: empire, myth and the violence of property
7. Techno-utopianism and post-limits environmentalism
8. Epilogue
References
About the author
Matthew Johnson is the author of the poetry collections, Shadow Folks and Soul Songs (Kelsay Books) and Far from New York State (New York Quarterly Press). His poetry has appeared in The Maryland Literary Review, Northern New England Review, Roanoke Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of nominations for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net awards. He has been selected with recognition from The Hudson Valley Writer's Center, Grand View University, and Sundress Publications. A former sports journalist and editor who wrote for the USA Today College and The Daily Star (Oneonta, NY), he earned is MA in English at UNC-Greensboro. He is currently the managing editor of The Portrait of New England and poetry editor of The Twin Bill. Website: matthewjohnsonpoetry.com
Summary
This book explores the role of private mining rights in the utopian imaginary of space colonisation. It presents a transdisciplinary account and interrogates the new and evolving legislative frameworks that govern access to the mineral resources of space.
