Human geographies of outer space

Definition/Description

This entry introduces how scholars have engaged with geographical thought to explore the social significance of outer space as well as some directions for future research. The term “outer space” is used throughout to refer to any area or entity considered to be outside the Earth’s atmosphere (and as distinct from abstract concepts of “space”).

Overview

Geographical studies of outer space have grown significantly in number and diversity over the last two decades. And yet, during the growth of geography as a university discipline across the twentieth century, geographers seemed rather uninterested in extending their gaze vertically. This is surprising because classical geographers, such as Ptolemy (100–170 CE), frequently situated the Earth within celestial bodies. One explanation for subsequent disengagement is that as geography became a discipline and a tool of European statecraft (and colonialism), it became fixated on accurate Earth...