The Contestation of Western-led Norms: BRICS and Military Space Governance in the Global South

Space governance and research have been primarily shaped by Western-led norms and frameworks, further making them standard for global governance. Although Global South states have competed with the West in the space sector as well as the global arena, their contributions have been understudied and less researched. This research explores how BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) as a Global South collective, have engaged with Western-led norms and policies through replication, adaptation, and contestation within space governance. This study seeks to explain how BRICS challenges, adapts, or changes Western norms by utilising a constructivist framework with isomorphism as the core mechanism. An analysis of qualitative documentation of BRICS joint statements, space partnerships and proposals, and summit declarations is used to identify patterns of replication, contestation, and adaptation. Due to the moderate research on Global South actors’ contributions to the space...Show moreSpace governance and research have been primarily shaped by Western-led norms and frameworks, further making them standard for global governance. Although Global South states have competed with the West in the space sector as well as the global arena, their contributions have been understudied and less researched. This research explores how BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) as a Global South collective, have engaged with Western-led norms and policies through replication, adaptation, and contestation within space governance. This study seeks to explain how BRICS challenges, adapts, or changes Western norms by utilising a constructivist framework with isomorphism as the core mechanism. An analysis of qualitative documentation of BRICS joint statements, space partnerships and proposals, and summit declarations is used to identify patterns of replication, contestation, and adaptation. Due to the moderate research on Global South actors’ contributions to the space sector and their individual contributions to space research and technological advancements, there is a general lack of scholarship on BRICS joint engagement in military space governance. This research contributes to the study of BRICS space governance by exploring how BRICS utilises norm contestation, replication, and adaptation in military space governance. As well as the trickle effect created within the Global South through the action of BRICS member states and the shift in the balance of the global order, this may create.Show less

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The Contestation of Western-led Norms: BRICS and Military Space Governance in the Global South