Militarizing Outer Space: Astroculture, Dystopia and the Cold War

Militarizing Outer Space examines the dystopian and destructive dimensions of the Space Age and challenges conventional narratives of a bipolar Cold War rivalry. It focuses on weapons, warfare, and violence and examines real and imagined endeavors to arm the skies and conquer the heavens. The third and final volume in the European Astroculture trilogy examines the interplay between security, technopolitics, and knowledge from the 1920s through the 1980s.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 443 pages
Publication date: 25 February 2023
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Militarizing Outer Space delves into the dystopian and destructive aspects of the Space Age, challenging traditional narratives of a bipolar Cold War rivalry. Focusing on weapons, warfare, and violence, this provocative volume examines real and imagined endeavors to arm the skies and conquer the heavens. As the third and final installment in the groundbreaking European Astroculture trilogy, Militarizing Outer Space zooms in on the interplay between security, technology, and knowledge from the 1920s to the 1980s. Often celebrated as the site of heavenly utopias and otherworldly salvation, outer space has transformed from a promised sanctuary to a present threat, where future battles will be waged. Astroculture has played a crucial role in understanding the forms and functions of warfare in the past, both on Earth and in space. The allure of dominating outer space, the book reveals, extends beyond the early twenty-first century and current American space force rhetorics.

Militarizing Outer Space delves into the dystopian and destructive aspects of the Space Age, challenging traditional narratives of a bipolar Cold War rivalry. Focusing on weapons, warfare, and violence, this provocative volume examines real and imagined endeavors to arm the skies and conquer the heavens. As the third and final installment in the groundbreaking European Astroculture trilogy, Militarizing Outer Space zooms in on the interplay between security, technology, and knowledge from the 1920s to the 1980s. Often celebrated as the site of heavenly utopias and otherworldly salvation, outer space has transformed from a promised sanctuary to a present threat, where future battles will be waged. Astroculture has played a crucial role in understanding the forms and functions of warfare in the past, both on Earth and in space. The allure of dominating outer space, the book reveals, extends beyond the early twenty-first century and current American space force rhetorics.

Weight: 718g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781349960637
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021