Introduction: Human Governance and Liberty Beyond Earth

Abstract

Equipped with ideas on the greatest opportunities to maximise liberty in outer space and some of its existential threats, it is possible to proceed to consider how the freedom of space settlers can be incorporated into the governance structures of extraterrestrial settlements. This volume of essays pursues this discussion from an assortment of angles, examining what we can learn from existing and past human communities and political experiences, investigating how free scientific thought and artistic creativity are to be maximised in space and how liberty can be engineered into the very infrastructure of extraterrestrial settlements. Different political and social mechanisms are considered for how impartial laws and governance are to be established. The collection underscores the quantity of information we can use from past experiences of liberty on Earth and the new efforts and ideas that will be needed to prevent the onset of tyrannies in space. Despite the tyranny-prone conditions in the extreme environments of outer space, there are ways in which liberty can be encouraged to thrive and there are approaches that can be formulated long in advance of a permanent human presence beyond Earth.