About the 2026 Dolowitz Lecture in Human Rights
From Earth to Outer Space: What and Whom is Worth Saving in the Race for Critical
Minerals?
with Dr. Julie Klinger, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison
Thursday, March 26, 2026 - 12:30-3pm - A public talk with catered reception at the
Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House at the University of Utah
Space exploration, energy generation, warfare, disaster recovery: these activities
rely on technologies and infrastructures positioned on Earth or in space. Hardware
is comprised of minerals, metals, and materials—many now designated as ‘critical’
by national governments—that must be wrested from the Earth and fed into supply chains.
Nearly all large-scale problems, and therefore nearly all solutions, rest on this
extractive imperative. Yet this very imperative exacerbates many of the same problems
it purports to solve: displacement, insecurity, and human suffering. This dilemma
shapes our collective imagination of what kinds of futures are possible on Earth and
in Space, and therefore what kinds of legal and physical infrastructures are needed
for their realization.
Based on fieldwork in mining, energy, policy, and space development on four continents,
this talk investigates how this dilemma plays out across sectors and places through
common but often conflicting needs for critical minerals and interrogates the potential
futures engendered by these regimes to explore the fundamental question of what, and
whom, is worth saving in the race for critical minerals below the ground and in the
heavens.
About the Dolowitz Lecture in Human Rights Lecture Archive
