The Case for Mars: A Critical Discourse Analysis on Human Rights, Borders, and Privilege

Sammanfattning

This thesis is inspired by the lack of academic discourse on human rights aspects of human space settlement. It builds on the ever-growing literature on colonizing Mars and the ongoing public debate on the benefits versus disadvantages thereof. Taking on a critical approach, this thesis opens up a conversation on power, universalism, and legitimacy within space exploration, questioning both the ontologies and epistemologies of human rights when taken out of the context of Earth. The purpose is to analyze society’s fascination with outer space and examine our collective assumptions when it comes to the applicability of human rights. The thesis analyses both legal and astronomy narratives on space settlement through the lens of Theories of Ideology, aiming to merge the two discursive threads into a unified narrative. The methodologies adopted throughout the research are literature mapping and critical discourse analysis. The results confirm that the human rights and anthropological aspects of human space settlement are neglected in the existing literature due to the fact that the spacefaring nations see Mars colonies as extensions of their own nations, as opposed to separate entities. While this is further strengthened by the legal regulations set on space exploration, it opposes the public political stance, which claims that Outer Space is the common heritage of humankind; therefore, exploring it shall be a joint effort.