28 - 29 January 2011

Constitutionalism in a New Key? Cosmopolitan, Pluralist and Public Reason-Oriented

Conference

The conference seeks to rethink basic issues of constitutional theory in light of contemporary challenges, that have been sidelined and obscured by the generally statist focus of traditional constitutional theory. Among the questions that will be examined are: Can a constituent power, which is exclusively national, be the ground for the constitutions claim to legitimate authority? How can constitutional theory contribute to a normative understanding of borders? How is the relationship between national and international law to be conceived within constitutional theory? If constitutionalism is more than legalization, under what conditions is it reasonable to speak of "constitutionalism beyond the state", say in connection with the European Union or the UN? And what are the practical consequences?