Preprint | From Spaceship to Lifeboat: Artemis II and the Radicalisation of a Planetary Perspective

Abstract: This article examines the semantic shift from Spaceship Earth to Lifeboat Earth in contemporary planetary discourse. Taking recent rhetoric surrounding the Artemis II mission as its point of departure, it argues that the description of Earth as a “lifeboat” marks a significant radicalisation of an older metaphorical field. Whereas the Apollo era helped naturalise the image of Earth […]

Release | Spaceship Earth. A total institution

Abstract: The concept of Earth as a planetary spaceship serves as a root metaphor of ecological economics, sustainability science, and the broader environmental movement. This article first explores the origins of this metaphor and elucidates the core components and functions of a hypothetical Spaceship Earth. It then draws on Erving Goffman’s characteristics of total institutions […]

Release | East of nature. Accounting for the environments of social sciences

Abstract: At the core of ecological economics is the image of the economy as an open system embedded in the natural environment whose carrying capacity is limited. The present paper revisits this image by drawing upon Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory. To Luhmann, the modern society consists of a multitude of social systems each bringing […]