Alterrestrial: planetary experience and cosmological freedom

Without seeking to produce an artificial unity between the privileged terrestrials and the damned of the Earth, I propose the notion of alterrestrial, which does not designate a new identity, but a common refusal of the Order of the world. ‘Alterrestrial’ qualifies a form of subjectivity which, without denying the need to take care of terrestrial attachments, claims a cosmological freedom, a sovereign detachment with a view to a revolutionary politics. In this article, I seek out the form of planetary experience the more capable of revealing this freedom and show that music can help shape a planetary subjectivity that would not be trapped in the sedentary nature of any Earth-bound identity. As a cosmological art par excellence, an invitation to deterritorializing, music can foil the climatic and security traps of the Capitalocene by making room for the unknown – for the love of the unknown without which the world is pointless.

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Publication Details

Journal
Cultural Geographies
Published
2025-04-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/14744740251326897
Primary Topic
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Alterrestrial: planetary experience and cosmological freedom

Frédéric Neyrat
Cultural Geographies
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
article

Alterrestrial: planetary experience and cosmological freedom

Frédéric Neyrat
article en

Abstract

Without seeking to produce an artificial unity between the privileged terrestrials and the damned of the Earth, I propose the notion of alterrestrial, which does not designate a new identity, but a common refusal of the Order of the world. ‘Alterrestrial’ qualifies a form of subjectivity which, without denying the need to take care of terrestrial attachments, claims a cosmological freedom, a sovereign detachment with a view to a revolutionary politics. In this article, I seek out the form of planetary experience the more capable of revealing this freedom and show that music can help shape a planetary subjectivity that would not be trapped in the sedentary nature of any Earth-bound identity. As a cosmological art par excellence, an invitation to deterritorializing, music can foil the climatic and security traps of the Capitalocene by making room for the unknown – for the love of the unknown without which the world is pointless.

Cultural GeographiesVol. 32(3)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 94%
Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
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