Constituent Power: Law, Popular Rule and Politics

by Matilda Arvidsson (Editor), Leila Brännström (Editor), Panu Minkkinen (Editor)

Overview

With a strong focus on constitutional law, this book examines the legal as well as the political power of ‘the people’ in constitutional democracies. Bringing together an international range of contributors from the USA, Latin America, the UK and continental Europe, it explores the complex relationship between constitutional democracy and ‘the people’ from the angles of constitutional law, legal theory, political theory, and history. Contributors explore this relationship through the lens of radical democracy, engaging with the work of key figures such as Hannah Arendt, Carl Schmitt, Claude Lefort, and Jacques Rancière.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474454988
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	08/25/2022
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Matilda Arvidsson is Post-Doctorate Researcher in the Department of Law at the University of Gothenburg. Her research interests include the theory and history of international law, international humanitarian law, and the international law of belligerent occupation. Matilda has written a number of journal articles and is co-editor (alongside Leila and Panu) of The Contemporary Relevance of Carl Schmitt: Law, Politics, Theology (Routledge, 2015).

Leila Brännström is a Senior Lecturer and researcher in jurisprudence at the Department of Law, Lund University, Sweden. Her research and teaching interests are focused on political and legal theory and human rights law. She has written a number of journal articles and book chapters and is co-editor of The Contemporary Relevance of Carl Schmitt: Law, Politics, Theology (Routledge, 2015).

Panu Minkkinen is Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Helsinki. His research interests include jurisprudence, legal theory, Constitutional theory, socio-legal studies, political and cultural theory and philosophy. Panu is author of Thinking without Desire: A First Philosophy of Law (Hart, 2009) and Sovereignty, Knowledge, Law (Routledge, 2011) and co-editor (alongside Matilda and Leila) of The Contemporary Relevance of Carl Schmitt: Law, Politics, Theology (Routledge, 2015).

Table of Contents

Table of contentsEditors’ IntroductionPolitics, Shamelessness, and the People of RessentimentBenjamin Arditi

Part 1: The Ambiguities of Constituent Power

1. ‘Enemies of the People’? The Judiciary and Claude Lefort’s ‘Savage Democracy’Panu Minkkinen

2. Public Space, Public Time: Constitution and the Relay of Authority in Arendt’s On RevolutionEmily Zakin

3. Are There Inherent Limits to Constitutional Amendment? An Analysis of Carl Schmitt’s ArgumentLars Vinx

Part 2: Popular Identity and its Others

4. The People: Ethnoracial Configurations, Old and NewLeila Brännström

5. Hannah Arendt and the Glimmering Paradox of Constituent PowerHanna Lukkari

6. Constituent Power from Cultural Practice: Implications from the Malheur Wildlife Refuge OccupationJuho Turpeinen

7. Claiming Human Rights: The Reflexive Identity of the PeopleEduardo Gill-Pedro

Part 3: Democracy and Populism

8. Katechontic Democracy? Carl Schmitt and the Restraining Mediation of Popular PowerHjalmar Falk

9. The Power of the PeopleAri Hirvonen and Susanna Lindroos-Hovinheimo

10. Populism: Plebeian Power against OligarchyCamila Vergara

11. Constituent Power and Constitutive Exceptions: Carl Schmitt, Populism, and the Consummation of SecularisationJon Wittrock