The Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space offers state-of-the-art overview of contemporary social and cultural research on outer space. International in scope, the thirty-eight contributions by over fifty leading researchers and artists across a variety of disciplines and fields of knowledge, present a range of debates and pose key questions about the crafting of futures in relation to outer space. The Handbook is a call to attend more carefully to engagements with outer space, empirically, affectively, and theoretically, while characterizing current research practices and outlining future research agendas. This recalibration opens profound questions of intersectional politics, race, equity, and environmental justice around the contested topics of space exploration and life off-Earth. Among the many themes included in the volume are the various infrastructures, networks and systems that enable and sustain space exploration; space heritage; the ethics of outer space; social and environmental justice; fundamental debates about life in outer space as it pertains to both astrobiology and SETI; the study of scientific communities; the human body and consciousness; Indigenous astronomical systems of Knowledge; contemporary space art; and ongoing critical interventions to overcome the legacies of colonialism and dismantle hegemonic narratives of outer space.

This vital book traverses the ongoing challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in the pursuit of their fundamental right to self-determination. Set against the backdrop of issues such as climate change, governance, space and data, it explores the intersection between Indigenous rights and land, territories and resources.

"Space is no longer the domain of national space agencies. Today, a significant majority of space activities are carried out by non-governmental entities, resulting in the accelerated evolution of space technologies and their applications. This operational shift from public to private does not mean, however, that States are no longer relevant in this era of New Space. Quite the contrary: as the operational role of the State has diminished, its regulatory role has correspondingly increased. Acknowledging that the commercial landscape in space is ever-changing, this project seeks to explore the manner by which Canada has adapted to the new commercial space landscape and whether it is prepared to carry out its authorisation and supervision responsibilities as regulator of Canada’s space industry. The fundamental research question asked in this project, therefore, is whether Canada’s space regulatory framework is appropriate given the ever-increasing commercialisation of space. To best answer this question, the project undertakes a doctrinal analysis of Canada’s historical space policy and current space laws, an empirical survey into the perspectives of those currently interacting with the existing Canadian space regulatory framework and a comparative exploration of how other jurisdictions oversee commercial space activities. Motivated by legal, moral and economic requirements, the project recommends that Canada enact a comprehensive Canadian space law and provides an annotated draft law for this purpose. This project sparks a meaningful conversation on how Canada ought to carry out its regulatory responsibilities, a hitherto unaddressed topic in public and academic discourse"--

Canada, as a nation, needs a new focus. In the last half of the 20th century, the country was striving to find its national identity, and we clustered along the warmth of our southern border, but not so close as to get burnt. Problems between the French- and English-speaking parts of our country threatened to tear us apart, but we managed to resolve them as best as we could. Then there are regional differences, each region trying to promote a national agenda that addresses their own needs. A large geographically dispersed country like Canada will always have regional differences, but these differences also contribute to the strength of our country. The overarching question is how best to build a country with a level of prosperity and quality of life that all can enjoy. If this goal can be achieved then most of the issues that divide us will tend to go away. We need a new national dream. That dream could be outer space, the new ocean, the final frontier. Canada needs to expand its activities in space. We need a space program that will inspire Canadians and drive technological innovation. We need to create a new industry that will continue to sustain our high standard of living. Both as a way to unite the country and as a way to ensure Canada will be a strong and prosperous nation well into the 21st century.

This book engages with international legal responses to the global environmental crisis. Humanity faces a triple planetary crisis, consisting of the interlinked problems of climate change, depletion of biological diversity and pollution.The chapters in this volume of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law address important questions of how and to what extent these environmental concerns have been integrated into international law, who or what drives these developments, and what all of this tells us about international law’s ability to tackle the challenges that a deteriorating environment brings for the future of life on Earth. The strength of the volume is that it brings together a wide range of perspectives on the ‘greening’ phenomenon in international law. It includes perspectives from international environmental law, human rights law, investment law, financial law, humanitarian law and criminal law. Moreover, it raises important questions regarding the validity of the predominant approach in international law to (the protection of) nature. By providing such a wide range of perspectives on international legal responses (or lack thereof) to the environmental crisis, the volume seeks to engage scholars and practitioners from a variety of disciplines. It invites readers to compare the state-of-the-art across disciplines and to reflect on ways to strengthen international law’s responses to the environmental crisis. Furthermore, as has become standard for the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, the second part consists of a section on Dutch practice in international law. The Netherlands Yearbook of International Law was first published in 1970. It offers a forum for the publication of scholarly articles in a varying thematic area of public international law. Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

'The Space Advisory Board was tasked by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to consult with stakeholders on a new space strategy and to report its findings. The Space Advisory Board held seven roundtable discussions across the country and two webinars focused on youth and the North, involving a broad cross-section of stakeholders in the Canadian Space Program. Participants noted that in the past Canada has had a very successful space program that met national needs and created an internationally competitive space industry and science capability. However, almost all stressed that Canada has lost ground in a world environment driven by rapidly changing technology and substantial increases in space investments by other nations. Participants supported the need for a space strategy, but stressed the urgent need for a reinvigorated and fully funded set of space activities and supporting policies to successfully implement the space strategy. Many felt that action is needed now before too much capacity is lost. During the consultations, stakeholders raised many significant issues facing Canadian space activities that require urgent Government action if space is to continue to contribute to the economic and social growth of the nation'--Cf. Executive summary, p. 1.