Reclaiming Constitutionalism: Democracy, Power and the State

Description

Reclaiming Constitutionalism articulates an argument for why the constitutional phenomenon remains attached to the state—despite the recent advent of theories of global constitutionalism. Drawing from the idea that constitutionalism historically sought to build social consensus, this book argues that the primary aim of constitutionalism is to create social peace and to shield, rather than to limit, the power of political elites in any given state. Implicit in the effort to preserve social peace is the fundamentally important acknowledgement of social conflict. Constitutionalism seeks to offer a balance between opposing social forces. However, this balancing process can sometimes ignite, rather than appease, social conflict. Constitutionalism may thus further a project of social struggles and emancipation, for it incorporates within its very nucleus the potential for an agonistic version of democracy. In light of the connection between social conflict and constitutionalism, this book explores the conditions for and locations of the former. From the state and the EU to the global level, it considers the role of citizenship, national identities, democracy, power, and ideology, in order to conclude that the state is the only site that satisfies the prerequisites for social conflict. Reclaiming constitutionalism means building a discourse that opens up an emancipatory potential; a potential that, under current conditions, cannot be fulfilled beyond the borders of the state. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: Constitutions and Constitutionalism: The Legal, the Political, the Citizen and the Status quo Introduction of Part I 1. The Roots of Law, the Roots of Constitutionalism I. The Foundation of Law: Politics and Social Conflict as Roots of the 'Legal' II. Constitutionalism in Modernity: The Social and Historical Juncture 2. The Telos of Modern Constitutionalism I. Constitutionalism in Modernity II. Constitutionalism, Ideology and the Politics of Consensus Conclusion of Part I: The Question of the Nation State PART II: The Constitutional Failure of Europe: Citizenship, Democracy and Consensus Introduction of Part II 3. The Dialectics of Citizenship: Europe as a Citizenship-Capable Entity I. The No-Demos Thesis II. The Nation, the State and Europe III. Citizenship and Community: Citizenship as a Dynamic Concept IV. Political Citizenship: Citizenship as a Dynamic Process V. Social Citizenship and Equality 4. What Kind of European Citizenship? I. European Citizenship in Practice II. The European Public Space III. Deliberative Europe Conclusion of Part II: European Citizenship Revisited PART
III: Global Governance: Discourse and Truth, Power and Resistance Introduction of Part III 5. Global Governance as Discourse—Global Governance as Truth I. Truth and Discourse: An Invented Dilemma II. Global Governance Discourse 6. Foucault and Power: Global Governance beyond Discourse I. Global Governance beyond Discourse: The Terms of the New Paradigm II. An Introduction to the Discussion on Power III. Foucault and the Function of Power IV. A Positive Reflection on Global Governance: The Example of the Problematics of Global Poverty V. The Possibility for Resistance at the Global Level 7. The Unviability of Global Citizenship: Looking into the Deeds of Global Civil Society I. Global Civil Society: Back to the Dialectics of Citizenship II. The Prospects of Global Citizenship Conclusion of Part III PART
IV: The Foundation of Power: Bringing Constitutionalism back to the State Introduction of Part IV 8. The Capitalist Mode of Production: The Economic Relation as the Primary Relation of the Nation State I. The Mode of Production in Marxist Thought II. The Detachment of the Capitalist Mode of Production from the Nation State: An Implausible Suggestion 9. State, Ideology and the Class Struggle I. State and the Economy: A Dialectical Relationship II. The Intervention of Ideological State Apparatuses in the Economic Relation III. The Foundation of Power: The State is Permeated by Class Struggle IV. Power as a Relation and State as its Primary Locus—the Role and Symbolisms of the National Constitution Conclusion of Part IV: Revisiting State Constitutionalism Conclusion: State, power, constitutionalism Index