2026 Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow Public Lecture
11 August 2026, Melbourne Law School
Registration to attend the lecture will be available on this page on 1 July 2026.
"Closer Moon—Departure of the first scientific and colonizing committee", a speculative illustration by French artist and author Albert Robida from his 1883 science fiction Le Vingtième Siècle.
“These Vast Worlds Which We Can Never Reach”: Corporate Empires from the Extraterritorial to the Extraterrestrial
Towards the end of his life, lamenting that the whole world had been “nearly all parceled out” among Europe empires, the late nineteenth-century colonial magnate Cecil Rhodes proclaimed that “I would annex the planets if I could." A century and some later, we find ourselves closer than ever to Rhodes's dream of colonizing “vast worlds which we can never reach,” as states and companies across the globe vie to explore, exploit, and settle Low Earth Orbit, the Moon, and even Mars. But how “new” is this “new space race" in fact? Rather than envisioning our current moment as merely a second phase of mid-20th century state-driven space competition, this talk considers the genealogy of these extraterrestrial projects in the institutions and ideologies of extraterritorial empire, paying particular attention to, on the one hand, the long history of the relationship between corporations and colonial expansion and, on the other, the surprisingly complex and enduring role outer space played in shaping territorial and imperial ambitions on Earth.
This lecture is presented as part of the Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Program, established in 1993 by the University of Melbourne’s Council on the recommendation of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Fund Committee. The program invites internationally distinguished scholars to visit the University of Melbourne, enriching the University’s academic, intellectual and cultural life. Miegunyah Fellows typically spend several weeks on campus, presenting a public lecture and specialist seminars, engaging with students and staff, and often collaborating on research initiatives. The program is made possible through the generous support of the Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Fund.
Please note that this is an in-person event only, and there will be no hybrid option. A recording of the lecture will be shared on the University channels following the event.