On the origins of astropolitics

Abstract

This paper takes its cue from two recent intellectual trends. The first is the formation of astropolitics, a military strategic genre that extends geopolitical concepts and practices into outer space and thus into an imagined future of space colonisation. The second is a renewed interest in panpsychism, the philosophical view that the universe is already conscious or besouled, whether humans colonise it or not. In order to understand better the intersection of panpsychism and astropolitics, I return to the later writings of the colonial geographer Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904). Although known primarily for his theorisation and promotion of terrestrial colonisation, Ratzel had a keen interest too in astronomy and used what he knew about the universe to theorise time and space in the social world. He had also come under the influence of Gustav Fechner’s panpsychism and sought to weave panpsychist ideas into his human geography. In uncovering this intellectual history, I caution against attempts to find solutions to the unresolved problems of settler colonialism at the level of ontology.