AstrotopiaMary-Jane RubensteinLabel: University of Chicago PressDescription: A revealing look at the parallel mythologies behind the colonization of Earth and space—and a bold vision for a more equitable responsible future both on and beyond our planet. As environmental political and public health crises multiply on Earth we are also at the dawn of a new space race in which governments team up with celebrity billionaires to exploit the cosmos for human gain. The best-known of these pioneers are selling different visions of the future: while Elon Musk and SpaceX seek to establish a human presence on Mars Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin work toward moving millions of earthlings into rotating near-Earth habitats. Despite these distinctions these two billionaires share a core utopian project: the salvation of humanity through the exploitation of space. In Astrotopia philosopher of science and religion Mary-Jane Rubenstein pulls back the curtain on the not-so-new myths these space barons are peddling like growth without limit energy without guilt and salvation in a brand-new world. As Rubenstein reveals we have already seen the destructive effects of this frontier zealotry in the centuries-long history of European colonialism. Much like the imperial project on Earth this renewed effort to conquer space is presented as a religious calling: in the face of a coming apocalypse some very wealthy messiahs are offering an other-worldly escape to a chosen few. But Rubenstein does more than expose the values of capitalist technoscience as the product of bad mythologies. She offers a vision of exploring space without reproducing the atrocities of earthly colonialism encouraging us to find and even make stories that put cosmic caretaking over profiteering.
