Going Forth - or Another Side to Space Exploration

We've all seen it in film, on television and in books - heroic space exploration, defeated aliens, new worlds colonised. But is this quite as laudable as it seems?

SFF writer Aliette de Bodard has some thoughts on the subject and she links to this article by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz in Strange Horizons. In this Loenen-Ruiz looks at the importance of understanding our personal histories and culture as well as the impact of a dominant culture imposing itself on another and introduces us to fiction writers who have tackled this complex subject.

Some thought provoking comment here.