Voices, Spaces, and Processes in Constitutionalism
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| Author | Colin Harvey,John Morison,Jo Shaw |
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6478.00144 |
INTRODUCTION
Internal and external factors are presently inspiring a resurgence of interest
in constitutionalism. This interest goes beyond the purely parochial con-
cerns of traditional constitutional doctrine. We are experiencing a transi-
tion to a form of internationalization which is distinct from what has gone
before. Globalization and europeanization are more than simply fashion-
able intellectual currency. They are impacting significantly on all areas of
legal scholarship. The architecture of legal discourse is altering to reflect
this and in the process new sites of constitutional contestation are opening
up. Multi-layered governance is a reality which few can afford to neglect.
This process will only intensify in the years to come. The title of this col-
lection captures what we see as an exciting time for those prepared to
engage with these trends on an inclusive basis.
Internally, competing claims to recognition by a variety of excluded and
oppressed groups have challenged some of the old stories about constitu-
tional traditions. These groups seek to expose the partial and distorted
nature of concepts which claim universality in the constitutional state. In
practice many of these ‘internal’ disputes are now effectively international-
ized and thus problematize any simple notion of ‘inside/outside’. New
forms of regional co-operation have raised the spectre of a postnational
constitutionalism which is rightly suspicious of the loaded language of the
past. As the collection demonstrates, there are attempts to respond at the
national level to these transnational processes. For example, the ‘third way’
proposed by ‘new Labour’ in Britain confronts these and the concept has
clear implications for areas as diverse as: the voluntary sector; corporate
governance; and devolutionary settlements. At the micro-level mediation
raises familiar debates about the nature of the processes of constitutional-
ism. In particular, the work renews the informalism/formalism debate. This
maps onto broader themes in, for example, regulatory law where procedu-
ralization is discussed in response to the problematization of law’s role.
© Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2000, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
* School of Law,The Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland
** Centre for the Study of Law in Europe, Department of Law, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, England
1
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 27, NUMBER 1, MARCH 2000
ISSN: 0263–323X, pp. 1–3
Voices, Spaces, and Processes in Constitutionalism
COLIN HARVEY,* JOHN MORISON,* AND JO SHAW**
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