Off-Earth
Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space
Imaginative and captivating, Erika Nesvold’s Off-Earth poses vital, wide-ranging ethical questions about the future of human communities in outer space.
While books on interplanetary travel typically focus on technology, this fascinating work probes more fundamental questions, as of whether people even have a right to build settlements in space and change planetary landscapes—and, if so, of what drives this expansion. It tries to envision a utopian society “free from the crowded territory and bloodied history of our terrestrial home.” It wonders who would design and control off-Earth societies, or whether they would be self-governing.
Integrating insights from dozens of experts across the sciences and humanities, from NASA administrators to space lawyers and fiction writers, Off-Earth also draws on lessons from history. For instance, the near collapse of the Jamestown settlement in 1609-10 demonstrates the importance of choosing the right mix of settlers with the right survival skills. And shifting US policies that briefly granted, then rescinded, “forty acres and a mule” to former slaves after the Civil War underscore the potential for exploiting a workforce with limited transportation and employment options. A stabbing incident among Russian engineers at an Antarctic research station poses questions about crime, punishment, and mental illness in remote environments. And a fictional scenario about a future Martian settler preparing for a hike raises questions about quality of life and environmental protection in future worlds.
At each point, the book proposes solutions that, admittedly, reflect Nesvold’s own biases and priorities, while also suggesting that we may have “an obligation to improve as a society before we spread beyond our home planet.”
Brilliant and thought-provoking, Off-Earth will not only challenge your assumptions about future worlds, but will change your understanding of the values and desires that shape the world today.
Reviewed by
Kristen Rabe
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
