Markus Schwarz
Abstract
No matter the distance traveled away from Earth, the most fascinating view is the look back. However, today, the “Blue Marble” – yet the only known habitable planet for humans – looks fragile: rising sea levels, heatwaves and droughts are eerie signs of devastating climate change. The reactions to this threat range from entrepreneurial dreams of space colonization to back-to-nature nostalgia, from doomsday scenarios to calls for the urgency of systemic change. In this dissertation project, I aim to present different perspectives on the relations between the environment and space exploration, between outer space and planet earth: in contrast to dominant discourses of space exploration heavily influenced by dreams of capital and fueled by apocalyptic visions of a future inhabitable planet, outer space is conceptualized as the distant canvas in the night sky on which multiple hopes and dreams for different futures can be projected. By approaching speculative fiction alongside legal texts and techno-utopian promises from the perspective of postcolonial and indigenous futurisms alongside utopian theory, multiple futures can emerge – futures, which do not map out routes, but, more importantly, keep their possibility alive.
Foto: © Markus Schwarz
