Outer Space as a Sociological Frontier

• Main Author: Evgeniya G. Nim
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology 2018-06-01
• Series: Социологический журнал
• Online Access: http://jour.fnisc.ru/upload/journals/1/articles/5843/submission/proof/5843-61-11160-1-10-20181108.pdf

The article is dedicated to the signifcance and prospects of developing a newresearch feld — astrosociology. Space studies have traditionally been the prerogative of science and technology, whereas social and cultural aspects of space exploration have barely been looked into. How can space related isssues enter the feld of social science? What do sociologists have to say about a human society that travels to outer space, survives in space, imagines space? These questions bring forth bilateral connections between mankind and space, namely the ways in which space a?ects social life and vice versa. The author identifes and characterizes three modes of astrosociological research: astrosocial studies, studies of astroculture, and studies of astropolitics. In the frst case, space is regarded as an extra-social factor, in the second – as a social and cultural construct, and in the third, more specifcally, as a matter of public opinion. However, the boundaries of these three research spheres are indefnite, and together these areas of study form a multi-dimensional and as of yet obscure interdisciplinary feld. This article’s aim is to conceptualize this feld and raise social scientists’ awareness of its potential for further research.