Law(lessness) in the Final Frontier: The Imperial Fantasy in American Space Policy

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dc.contributor.advisorHenriksen, Margot
dc.contributor.authorHauck, Lauren
dc.contributor.departmentHistory
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-29T23:17:36Z
dc.date.available2021-07-29T23:17:36Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractThis thesis examines the historical development of American space policy as an imperial project. This paper is periodized in three chronological eras—the Cold War, the 1990s, and the post-9/11 era—that display distinct viewpoints and methodologies toward the practice of expansionism in outer space. Further, despite the multitude of scholars who refer to outer space as the “Final Frontier,” few interrogate the use of this traditionally imperialist rhetoric. Analyzing the language and methodology of Manifest Destiny as it applied in early American expansion and now as it is inscribed upon outer space truly illuminates the imperial project. In understanding space policy as inherently expansionist and inherently imperialist, this study delves into the vehicles or tools of that project. In the Cold War era, the goal of surveillance—akin to Foucault’s Panopticon theory—becomes the early focus in space policy. This coincides with the goals of the Cold War to prevent Communist expansion and establish the United States as the protector of the “free world.” While surveillance policy in no way stopped, the United States understood the need to present itself as a cooperative world leader. Thus, in the 1990s an emphasis is placed on cooperation and the presentation on the global stage of benign power. Post-9/11 the new Communism is “terror,” setting the stage for a reinvigorated and even more overt exceptionalism in outer space. The more pervasive form of imperialism is developed in this period through the process of taking up space via satellite placement in Earth’s orbit. Ultimately, this paper concludes that a discussion of space policy must be more firmly written into the racialized and gendered history of American imperialism. As space travel and exploration becomes more prevalent, it is imperative that scholars continue to interrogate and indict the flaws in the system.
dc.description.degreeM.A.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10125/75944
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
dc.subjectHistory
dc.titleLaw(lessness) in the Final Frontier: The Imperial Fantasy in American Space Policy
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.dcmiText
local.identifier.alturihttp://dissertations.umi.com/hawii:10942

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