For Aníbal Quijano, “nothing is less rational, finally, than the pretension that a specific cosmic vision of a particular ethnicity should be taken as universal rationality.”

Along the same lines, Joël Vacheron argues that space exploration has universalized a vision of the Earth and the cosmos that is not shared universally. Like the first transatlantic journeys, the invention of the steam engine, and the conquest of the West, the material exploration and exploitation of outer space have always been historically framed in narratives presenting them as a natural expansion led by a minority on behalf of all humankind. By inviting us to “unsee” a selection of images produced in the context of the American space program, this presentation explains why this cosmovision was decisive in the widespread adoption of a worldview that perpetuates coloniality in the postcolonial world.

Joël Vacheron is a sociologist and writer based in Lisbon. He is a senior lecturer and research fellow at the ECAL (Universtiy of art and Design Lausanne / HES-SO) in Lausanne where he teaches visual anthropology and media studies. He is co-founder of the Centre Culturel Afropea and the author of “Cosmovisions : une étude visuelle de l’exploration spatiale” (Métis Presses, 2025)