{"title":"Space Community as an Enabler of Cosmopolitan Ideas Through Large Technical Systems","authors":"Nikola Schmidt , Ondřej Ditrych","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2022.101485","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Space exploration has been a source of visions of a positive future development of humanity as a spacefaring species, as well as a possible warring domain of humanity as a nation-faring species. In this way, the post-WWII age was defined by a belief that technology can be the cause of either positive or dystopic futures, respectively. However, the development of political science<span> since then has provided us a different perception of the relation between technology and politics. In this article, we show how large technical systems (LTSs) could overcome the imprisonment of identity in a national straitjacket in interstate interactions and could subsequently enable a more inclusive cosmopolitan global governance. We argue that political reality could be determined by technology; it could be that normative theory, injected into LTSs that existed for decades, determines the available space for political steering. The space domain is specific given its inherently cosmopolitan epistemic space community that has the power through its expertise, ability to mobilize scientific facts, and also policy, to shape not only how LTSs of the future would appear but also on what normative foundations they would stand. The space community should become aware of its political capital instead of continuously asking for a Global Space Agency that would involve all nations. LTSs and the space community, therefore, effectively become two vehicles of the political change. We use three cases for this change that require LTSs to be addressed: orbital debris, planetary defense, and interstellar travel. The principal problem of ambitious activities in space does not lie, we propose, not only in lack of knowledge, lack of technical capabilities, or a lack of funding but also in lack of our ability to enable cosmopolitan ideas in political practice. The novel approach to space policy we suggest in our article builds on the basic principles of cosmopolitan theory, and uses the concept of a responsible cosmopolitan state, and the Welsh School of critical security studies, namely a theory that focuses on security as emancipation rather than security as an absence of an identified threat, to argue that security sensitive LTSs are not a burden but rather an instrument to enable positive political change.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Space Policy","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026596462200011X","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Space exploration has been a source of visions of a positive future development of humanity as a spacefaring species, as well as a possible warring domain of humanity as a nation-faring species. In this way, the post-WWII age was defined by a belief that technology can be the cause of either positive or dystopic futures, respectively. However, the development of political science since then has provided us a different perception of the relation between technology and politics. In this article, we show how large technical systems (LTSs) could overcome the imprisonment of identity in a national straitjacket in interstate interactions and could subsequently enable a more inclusive cosmopolitan global governance. We argue that political reality could be determined by technology; it could be that normative theory, injected into LTSs that existed for decades, determines the available space for political steering. The space domain is specific given its inherently cosmopolitan epistemic space community that has the power through its expertise, ability to mobilize scientific facts, and also policy, to shape not only how LTSs of the future would appear but also on what normative foundations they would stand. The space community should become aware of its political capital instead of continuously asking for a Global Space Agency that would involve all nations. LTSs and the space community, therefore, effectively become two vehicles of the political change. We use three cases for this change that require LTSs to be addressed: orbital debris, planetary defense, and interstellar travel. The principal problem of ambitious activities in space does not lie, we propose, not only in lack of knowledge, lack of technical capabilities, or a lack of funding but also in lack of our ability to enable cosmopolitan ideas in political practice. The novel approach to space policy we suggest in our article builds on the basic principles of cosmopolitan theory, and uses the concept of a responsible cosmopolitan state, and the Welsh School of critical security studies, namely a theory that focuses on security as emancipation rather than security as an absence of an identified threat, to argue that security sensitive LTSs are not a burden but rather an instrument to enable positive political change.
期刊介绍:
Space Policy is an international, interdisciplinary journal which draws on the fields of international relations, economics, history, aerospace studies, security studies, development studies, political science and ethics to provide discussion and analysis of space activities in their political, economic, industrial, legal, cultural and social contexts. Alongside full-length papers, which are subject to a double-blind peer review system, the journal publishes opinion pieces, case studies and short reports and, in so doing, it aims to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions and a means by which authors can alert policy makers and international organizations to their views. Space Policy is also a journal of record, reproducing, in whole or part, official documents such as treaties, space agency plans or government reports relevant to the space community. Views expressed in the journal are not necessarily those of the editors or members of the editorial board.