Title: The precursors of contemporary global constitutionalism

Authors: Shivam

Addresses: Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

Abstract: Contemporary and mainstream narratives of global constitutionalism invariably treat it a post-Cold War phenomenon. Though theories abound as to the meaning and nature of global constitutionalism ranging from descriptive to normative, it predominantly remains a scholarly endeavour with some illustrative claims of empirical validity. Given the tremendous diversity associated with the invocation of the label by a variety of academics, a precise genealogy of the concept is hard to obtain. However, an inquiry into the intellectual origins of the notion is all the more important if it has to be revised to be more inclusive, anti-imperialist and truly transformative in nature rather than be in service of reification of Western imperialism reinforced by capitalist globalisation. Besides being readily linked to the idea of globalisation, global constitutionalism is also sometimes seen to be exclusively the brainchild of German philosophers, lawyers and academics. These assumptions need to be interrogated not just as a pretext for stocktaking but for gleaning lessons from the past for conceptualising and envisioning a truly just world order that may or may not be unipolar but which centralises the idea of global peace as well as welfare.

Keywords: constitutional law; international law; global constitutionalism; World War II; Cold War; constitutionalism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRCS.2025.142886

International Journal of Human Rights and Constitutional Studies, 2025 Vol.12 No.1, pp.1 - 20

Received: 31 Mar 2023
Accepted: 03 Apr 2023
Published online: 30 Nov 2024 *