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Short abstract:

Who stands at the epicentre of our visions for a possible future Martian society? What is imagined, and who or what remains unimagined? This presentation explores how private spaceflight companies, particularly SpaceX, shape visions of desirable future societies on the Red Planet.

Long abstract:

In an era marked by global challenges, private spaceflight companies, such as SpaceX, dominate the narrative of the New Space Age, projecting optimism in the face of pandemics, climate change, and political instability. This research investigates how private spaceflight companies articulate and perform collectively held visions of a desirable multiplanetary species, focusing on narratives of future human settlements on Mars. Using the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries, I dissect narratives from 2016 to 2023, utilizing social media as a primary platform for the reproduction of these imaginaries.

The rhetorical analysis of SpaceX’s narratives concludes that Mars is depicted as terra nullius, an empty canvas, free from Earth’s challenges. These narratives articulate a non-trivial vision of a better society, effectively shaped in Western terms, relying on scientific and technological knowledge and establishing hierarchical distinctions based on different knowledges and ways of being. While these better societies claim to be for the ‘good of all humanity,’ a deeper examination reveals that the central figure in this imagining of Martian futures is inherently exclusionary. The central figure is the Starman, the astronaut, described in masculine terms reminiscent of Hollywood superheroes and 19th-century cowboys. Therefore, even though these narratives may appear all-encompassing, they ultimately enable only Western men to envision themselves as the inhabitants of the Red Planet.

In this short talk, I present the paper's findings, emphasizing the contrast between the perceived neutrality of a desirable Martian society and the underlying colonial and exclusionary narratives.