My research examines outer space as a site of diplomacy, infrastructure, environmental politics, and geopolitical imagination. It is organised around three linked concerns: more-than-terrestrial diplomacy, cooperation without consensus, and the political work of infrastructures.
More-than-Human Space Diplomacy: Assembling Internationalism in Orbit
William Stewart, Jason Dittmer
The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2023
More-than-terrestrial diplomacy: modular politics of the International Space Station
William Stewart
University College London, Department of Geography, 2026
William Stewart
Ben Anderson, Vickie Zhang, eds., in Concepts for Cultural Geography, 'Gravity', CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY (UN)LIMITED, https://culturalgeography.press/003-concepts, 2026 Oct
William Stewart
Ben Anderson, Vickie Zhang, eds., in Concepts for Cultural Geography, 'More-than-Terrestrial', CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY (UN)LIMITED, https://culturalgeography.press/003-concepts, 2026 Oct
William Stewart, in collaboration with Mary Yacoob
David Jeevendrampillai, Perig Pitrou, Delphine Mercier, Victor Buchli, Istvan Praet, eds., Off Earth Atlas: A Guide to the Social Study of Outer Space, 'Affordance Futurism', Intellect Books, https://intellectdiscover.com/content/books/9781835953983, 2027 Jan
WORK IN PREPARATION
Articles under review
Stewart, W. ‘Assembling Transnationalism in Orbit: Off-Earth Atmospheric Politics and the International Space Station’, under review at Territory, Politics, Governance.
Stewart, W. ‘Assembling Transnationalism in Orbit: Off-Earth Atmospheric Politics and the International Space Station’, under review at Territory, Politics, Governance.
Articles submitted
Stewart, W. ‘From Handshakes to Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Orbital Docking and the Cultural Geographies of Outer Space Diplomacy’, submitted to Cultural Geographies.
Stewart, W. ‘From Handshakes to Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Orbital Docking and the Cultural Geographies of Outer Space Diplomacy’, submitted to Cultural Geographies.
Work in preparation
Stewart, W. ‘Dividing the Earth, Dividing the Moon: Artemis, ILRS and the Geopolitics of Cislunar Futures’ (in preparation).
- Based on themes identified in the conclusion of my thesis, this article explores the post-ISS future and emerging issues for the next era of outer space.
Stewart, W. ‘Dividing the Earth, Dividing the Moon: Artemis, ILRS and the Geopolitics of Cislunar Futures’ (in preparation).
- Based on themes identified in the conclusion of my thesis, this article explores the post-ISS future and emerging issues for the next era of outer space.
Speculative Worlds Research Collection. 'Title TBD - Reflections on Interdisciplinary Collaboration: 2021-2026' (in preparation).
- A co-written reflection on collaboration, interdisciplinarity, speculation, and community.
Stewart, W. 'On Becoming a Geopolitical Subject' (in preparation).
- Draws on my own experience from joining the US military, working with the US State Department at the UN, and turning a critical eye back on the experience through the lenses of academic concepts learned during my PhD.
- A co-written reflection on collaboration, interdisciplinarity, speculation, and community.
Stewart, W. 'On Becoming a Geopolitical Subject' (in preparation).
- Draws on my own experience from joining the US military, working with the US State Department at the UN, and turning a critical eye back on the experience through the lenses of academic concepts learned during my PhD.
SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS AND INVITED TALKS
‘ISS as US Diplomatic Assemblage’, Space Studies: How to Build Cross-Disciplinary Cooperation between France and the UK, London, June 2025.
‘Gateway to Space: The Oklahoma Spaceport as Microcosm of American Final Frontier Mythos’, RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, London, August 2024.
‘More-than-Human Space Diplomacy’, Off-Earth Geopolitics, University of Oxford, September 2023.
‘Politics of Belonging: Climbing into Space Expo’s scale model of the ISS’, Extra-terrestrial ethnographies: Fieldwork for the new space age, London, September 2023
‘The ISS and Outer Space Diplomacy’, Space Education and Strategic Applications Conference, Policy Studies Organization, September 2023.
‘Gateway to Space: The Oklahoma Spaceport as Microcosm of American Final Frontier Mythos’, RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, London, August 2024.
‘More-than-Human Space Diplomacy’, Off-Earth Geopolitics, University of Oxford, September 2023.
‘Politics of Belonging: Climbing into Space Expo’s scale model of the ISS’, Extra-terrestrial ethnographies: Fieldwork for the new space age, London, September 2023
‘The ISS and Outer Space Diplomacy’, Space Education and Strategic Applications Conference, Policy Studies Organization, September 2023.
'Affordance Futurism', Off-Earth Atlas: Architectures and Infrastructures workshop, University College London, June 2023
The Hague Space Diplomacy Symposium, Leiden University, June 2023.
The Hague Space Diplomacy Symposium, Leiden University, June 2023.
UCL Leaders, Politics of Outer Space Panel, January 2023.