Albert, Guruswamy, Basnyat and friends on founding constitutional moments

Richard Albert (University of Texas at Austin), Menaka Guruswamy (senior advocate, Supreme Court of India), and Nishchal Basnyat (Cambridge University) have co-edited Founding Moments in Constitutionalism, now out with Hart Publishing. From the press:

Founding moments are landmark events that break ties with the ancien régime and lay the foundation for the establishment of a new constitutional order. They are often radically disruptive episodes in the life of a state. They reshape national law, reset political relationships, establish future power structures, and influence happenings in neighbouring countries. This edited collection brings together leading and emerging scholars to theorise the phenomenon of a founding moment. What is a founding moment? When does the 'founding' process begin and when does it end? Is a founding moment possible without yielding a new constitution? Can a founding moment lead to a partial or incomplete transformation? And should the state be guided by the intentions of those who orchestrated these momentous breaks from the past? Drawing from constitutions around the world, the authors ask these and other fundamental questions about making and remaking constitutions.

 Table of Contents after the jump:

• Richard Albert and Menaka Guruswamy, "Introduction: Mapping the Founding"
• Ming-Sung Kuo, "1. Between Fact and Norm: Narrative and the Constitutionalism of Founding Moments"
• Swati Jhaveri, "2. The Role of Courts in Advancing Constitutional Moments: Contitutionalising the Constitution in Singapore and Hong Kong"
• Mel A. Topf, "3. Foundation and Revolution: Hannah Arendt and the Problem of Legitimacy and Stability in Constitutional Consolidation"
• Mikolaj Barczentewicz, "4. I am Not Your (Founding) Father"
• Simon Gilhooley, "5. 'And Then They Begin to Look after the History of Their Founders': (Re)configurations of the Founding in the Early Republic"
• Yair Sagy, "6. Under the Shadow of the Constitutional Revolution? Revisiting Israel's Founding Moments"
• Eugene D. Mazo, "7. Path-Dependency in Soviet and Russian Constitution-Making"
• Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, "8. 'Founding Moments' in Latin America? The Brazilian and Chilean Constitutional Histories and the Rise of the Forgotten People"
• Chien-Chih Lin, "9.We the Taiwanese People: A Constitution with Two Antagonistic Constitutional Identities"
• Maryam S. Khan, "10. What's in a Founding? Founding Moments and Pakistan's 'Permanent Constitution' of 1973"
• Noga Efrati, "11. A Founding Moment in Iraq: A Gender Perspective"
• Nishchal Basnyat, "Conclusion: Rethinking Founding Moments"

Further information is available here.

--Mitra Sharafi