Riot strrrs: zines as alternative public pedagogies in space science education

Abstract In this paper I demonstrate how zines (pronounced ‘zeen’, a word that is a contraction of ‘magazine’) about space science can be theorised as a site of science education at the margins. Through exploring different zines and their potential to create counter-narratives I offer a series of objects that might reshape how we teach and learn about outer space. Rhizomatically moving laterally between different zine, the paper charts how resisting hegemonic narratives; affective and cultural practices of science; and the integration of quotidian and cosmic is possible in these zines. These new narratives develop cautionary engagement with and resistance to expansionist, colonialist imaginaries that underpin so much cultural material about outer space produced by official actors. While these zines are not hegemonically understood as sites of science education, I argue that they offer science educators a rich site of counter-narratives and pluralising cultural texts that can be drawn on in pursuit of a more socially just science education.