Constitutionalism as Mindset: Reflections on Kantian Themes About International Law and Globalization
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Martti Koskenniemi
Globalization is a topic of some anxiety among international lawyers. On the one hand, its fluid dynamics — fragmentation, deformalization and empire — undermine traditional diplomatic rules and institutions. On the other hand, the effort to reimagine international law in purely managerial terms appears intellectually shallow and politically objectionable. To avoid marginalization and instrumentalization, many lawyers have begun to think about international problems through a constitutional vocabulary and have often cited Kant in that connection. This Article argues that, while it is always possible to grasp the world through a constitutional vocabulary, this does not provide determinate answers to international problems. Instead of an institutional architecture or a set of legal rules, constitutionalism is best seen as a mindset — a tradition and a sensibility about how to act in a political world. Contrary to a widespread assumption, Kant’s political writings may also be read in this fashion and, if so, a meaningful international transformation might necessitate not only legislative or institutional intervention but a professional and perhaps spiritual regeneration.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Introduction
- Constitutionalism as Mindset: Reflections on Kantian Themes About International Law and Globalization
- Aristotle on Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
- In the Blind Spot: The Hybridization of Contracting
- The Shuffle of Things: Law and Knowledge in "Modern Society"
- Democratic Legitimacy and the Scientific Foundation of Modern Law
- The Two-State Solution: Providence and Catastrophe
- "What Are the Gods to Us Now?": Secular Theology and the Modernity of Law
- Transformations of Kinship and the Acceleration of History Thesis
- Animal Laws and the Politics of Life: Slaughterhouse Regulation in Germany, 1870-1917
- The Critical Modernism of Hannah Arendt
- Modern Times: Law, Temporality and Happiness in Hobbes, Locke and Bentham
- Time and Law
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- Introduction
- Constitutionalism as Mindset: Reflections on Kantian Themes About International Law and Globalization
- Aristotle on Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
- In the Blind Spot: The Hybridization of Contracting
- The Shuffle of Things: Law and Knowledge in "Modern Society"
- Democratic Legitimacy and the Scientific Foundation of Modern Law
- The Two-State Solution: Providence and Catastrophe
- "What Are the Gods to Us Now?": Secular Theology and the Modernity of Law
- Transformations of Kinship and the Acceleration of History Thesis
- Animal Laws and the Politics of Life: Slaughterhouse Regulation in Germany, 1870-1917
- The Critical Modernism of Hannah Arendt
- Modern Times: Law, Temporality and Happiness in Hobbes, Locke and Bentham
- Time and Law
