Today’s inter-national relations feature a paradox. On the one hand, there is an increase in constitutionalism all over the world; for example, references to constitutional norms and processes have become a familiar feature in a range of international organisations (IOs). On the other hand, the interpretation of international law is frequently subject to controversy. Examples are decisions of the United Nations Security Council on military interventions and the use of so-called smart sanctions or in decisions of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. 

In short, the global realm is increasingly populated by “constitutionalized” international organizations and an ever-broader range of actors with different levels of authority and legitimacy, yet at the same time, the implementation of common rules, contracts and resolutions is contested. That is, the phenomenon of constitutionalisation is a accompanied by “contested compliance”. Norms research in international relations/law has highlighted the paradox. At the Chair of Political Science and Global Governance several projects address this situation as both a challenge and an opportunity for enhanced justice and legitimacy in the global realm:  

Global Constitutionalism, a new Cambridge journal 
Constitutionalism Unbound, a new research project 
Global Constitutionalism: Mapping an Emerging Field (completed research) 

Start-up Funding with a view towards establishing a Collaborative Research Centre.

The Hamburg Research and Science Foundation funds the kick-off project for an international network of scholars working on “Constitutionalism Unbound: Developing Triangulation for International Relations”. 
 

Under the guidance of Prof. Antje Wiener, PhD AcSS, the interdisciplinary network of scholars receives funding for one and a half years. Regarding future proposals for third-party funding by national and European research institutions, this funding financially assures the research activity of the group during the kick-off period of the project.  
The group of scholars approaches the emerging field of “Global Constitutionalism” from the perspectives of both International Relations and International Law. It aims to stimulate dialogue between these two still insufficiently coupled disciplines and, in so doing, to account for the paradoxes of an increasingly constitutionalized world politics. 

Abstract: 
The Constitutionalism Unbound Project notes a situation in which constitutional quality is noticeable and elusive at the same time and therefore remains to be substantiated by extensive and systematic research. The expression “constitutionalism unbound” stands for a perception of threat at worst and concern at best about a process which might potentially result in constitutionalising the world in a Neokantian fashion which academics working in the field. Other normative arguments hold that constitutionalisation on a global scale must compensate for the loss of constitutional quality on a national scale. While the project picks up on the observation of constitutional quality beyond the state, we decidedly do not work with the goal of a global constitution in mind, but aim to develop a pluralist approach to global constitutionalism. 

Constitutional quality consists of normative substance institutionalised over time and in different contexts. As a concept, it is by definition subject to change and hence contingent. This contingency presents a theoretical challenge, especially in the absence of a theoretic framework of global constitutionalism. To address this challenge, the research is framed by a bifocal approach that allows for a reflexive combination of the two steps of mapping and shaping constitutionalisation: First, the project combines the two larger steps of mapping and shaping constitutionalisation. By mapping constitutionalisation we take account of the fact that constitutional quality emerges through a process. Second, we propose developing the approach of theoretical triangulation which draws on methodological triangulation, i.e. linking an unspecified number of various different research methods in order to generate better results. Four questions guide the joint research of this project: (1) How is constitutional quality defined? (2) Where can it be observed? (3) Why is it necessary or desirable? (4) How should it be shaped?

Participating Partner Institutions

University of Hamburg:

• Chair in Political Science & Global Governance, esp. Global Governance, Prof. Antje Wiener, PhD
• Chair in Political Science, esp. Comparative Politics, Prof. Dr. Christine Landfried
• Chair in Sociology, esp. General Sociology, Prof. Dr. Urs Stäheli, Dr. des. Sven Opitz
• Chair in Public Law, European Community Law and Public International Law, Prof. Dr. Stefan Oeter
• Chair in Criminal Law and Procedure, International Criminal Law and Modern Legal History, Prof. Dr. Florian Jeßberger

Helmut Schmidt University – University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg: 

• Chair in Public Law, especially Public International Law and Law of the European Union, Prof. Dr. Andreas von Arnauld

German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Hamburg: 

• Institute for Latin American Studies (Director and Vice-President GIGA) Prof. Dr. Detlef Nolte 

Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB): 

• Director of the Research Unit "Transnational Conflicts and International Institutions",  Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn
• Research Professor “Globalization and the Rule of Law”, Prof. Dr. Mattias Kumm, also HU and NYU

Humboldt University Berlin (HU):

• Chair of Public Law and Legal Philosophy, Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers
• Research Professor “Globalization and the Rule of Law”, Prof. Dr. Mattias Kumm, also WZB and NYU

Hertie School of Governance:

• Chair in International Law, Prof. Dr. Nico Krisch
• Chair in European and Global Governance, Prof. Dr. Markus Jachtenfuchs

University of Potsdam:

• Chair of International Organisations and Public Policy, Prof. Dr. Andrea Liese
   

University of Bielefeld:

• Chair of Political Science, especially Politial Theory, Prof. Dr. Mathias Albert

University of Flensburg: 

• Chair of Sociology, Prof. Dr. Hauke Brunkhorst

New York University (NYU):

• Professor of Law, Prof. Dr. Mattias Kumm, also WZB and HU

Coordinator: Prof. Antje Wiener, PhD AcSS 
Chair in Political Science & Global Governance, esp. Global Governance

Faculty of Economics and Social Science University of Hamburg, Allende Platz 1, 20146 Hamburg, Email: antje.wiener(at)wiso.uni-hamburg.de

Vice Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Stefan Oeter
Chair in Public Law, European Community Law and Public International Law

Faculty of Law, Rothenbaumchaussee 33, 20148 Hamburg

From April-June 2011 Prof. Antje Wiener held a three-months long fellowship at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK / Institue for Advanced Study) to undertake research on the theme of "Global Constitutionalism: Mapping an Emerging Field".  Strategically, the main intention of this research time was to map the new concept of “global constitutionalism” from a range of different angles of academic research. Based on a sound literature review, her research resulted in a draft research proposal for submission with the German Research Council (DFG). Substantially, the goal of the mapping exercise included identifying the central research questions of the field with regard to interdisciplinary and conceptual issues, and with regard to drafting a research programme with a view to shaping global constitutionalism in the 21st century. The research output of this first research period includes a review article on the concept of global constitutionalism for Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) (currently under review), the HWK Fellow Lecture and conducting a workshop at the HWK to present the new transregional research group ‘Constitutionalism Unbound’.

• Wiener, Antje (2012, forthcoming). Tackling Invisible Frontiers of Global Justice: An Extension of Sen's 'Comparison View of Justice' into IR. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP).
• Vetterlein, Antje and Wiener, Antje (2012, forthcoming). Die Konstitution internationaler Ordnung - Eine „Grand Theory“ der Gemeinschaft. Leviathan [in German].
• Wiener, Antje, Lang Jr, Anthony F, Maduro, Miguel Poiares, Kumm, Mattias (2012). Editorial: Why a new Journal on Global Constitutionalism? Global Constitutionalism, 1(1), 1-17.
• Wiener, Antje (2011). Comment: Global Constitutionalism and the Concept of Difference. In Kolja Raube & Annika Sattler (eds.). Difference and Democracy (pp. 261-274). Frankfurt/M. & New York: Campus, available from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1915059

For further publications, click here