Moon Mining: Imperialism's Next Frontier or Democratic Cooperation?

Abstract

This dissertation undertakes a qualitative political economy case study using historical process tracing to construct a long durée approach to contemporary governance for the Moon and its resources. The past two decades have seen both increased weaponization of space as well as the rise of the commercialization of space resources, which are serious threats to the Moon’s pristine environment and to the “peaceful use” of space for the “benefit of all mankind” as established in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty. In 2020, the US advanced the Artemis Accords asserting the private ownership of the Moon’s resources while also instituting the US Space Force that same year. Increasing hegemonic competition between the US, China, and Russia raises questions on how to protect the commons from hegemonic struggle, war, and imperialist extractive practices. Thus, this study asks: What are the possibilities for global democracy for the Moon and its resources? How does governance of the Moon and its resources operate? Who participates in Moon governance? The study applies Weber’s ideal types to discover processes of democracy and imperialism working in Moon governance. The main findings are the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1979 Moon Agreement were designed to prevent globalized imperialism and colonial logics in space and thus provide natural bridges to global democracy for the Moon.