Propagandizing the visible,ignoring the invisible-visible

Abstract

We draw from green cultural and visual criminology to analyze and discuss how the visual is manufactured to promote space expansionism in terms of the idyllic, simultaneously obscuring the visible (i.e. harms and destructive forces) into the invisible. We engage with the representational narrative that forms the dogma of cultural production into a normalized “seeing.” Offering examples that highlight the dominant narrative that space expansionism is overall a positive idyllic endeavor for humankind, these images form a dogma of cultural production, whereby our normalized “seeing” is distinct from the realities of the space industry. We argue that by celebrating and spectacularizing the marvels of outer space, and the advancements of science and technology that have facilitated spacefaring ventures, the anthropogenic environmental harms and “slow violence” that results are rendered invisible. Unlike more traditional analyses of slow violence that focuses on the violence that is kept out of sight, the real-life harms of space launches, emissions, space junk, and litter are prominently displayed, mediated, and circulated (i.e. rocket launches, explosions, space junk reentry etc.). However, we argue that this visible violence is negated, removed from the discourse, rendering it the invisible -visible.