Can Luddism Benefit Outer Space Development?

• In Event: Luddism: Epistemological and Political

Abstract

In their 2018 paper, Lachney and Dotson propose the question, “What are the connections between epistemological Luddism and political movements to decommission large-scale technologies and sociotechnical systems?”. As first described by Winner (1977), epistemological Luddism imagines what the decommissioning of technologies might reveal about their politics. Luddism can, then, teach about existing sociotechnical system. Likewaise, scholars of incrementalist political thought focus on learning as an important aspect of governing emergent technologies more intelligently (Lindblom 1969, Woodhouse and Collingridge 1993, Dotson 2017). But how can policy makers gain back leverage to better steer already established technologies, even after the closure of interpretive flexibility and the onset of potentially substantial momentum?

The development of outer space seems like an unlikely candidate to benefit from Luddism. However, the American space program already practices a form of Luddism. Defined as the political decommissioning of technology, one need only think about the cycle of launch vehicle replacement which occurs every few decades. But at the same time, the struggle by NASA and their private partners demonstrates how little learning is associated with this decommissioning.

I will examine both historical and contemporary examples of Luddism within the context of the American space program through the lens of epistemological Luddism. Using Lachney and Dotson's call for examinations both at and between the individual and system levels I examine how the application of political decommissioning of technology may be at least one aspect of improved learning in the development of outer space to come.

Author

• Michael Bouchey