REMINDER: CORE LEGAL THEORY SEMINAR: Lauréline FONTAINE (Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle), "The Constitution as Social Fetish" (VUB: room C4.09, 4 APR 2025)
(image source: CitéPhilo ) Introduction by Laurent de Sutter. Abstract: Constitutions have good press. Associated with marks of progress, they have nourished since their appearance the political imaginations of peoples aspiring to emancipation. The history of constitutionalism is however far from the story that is commonly made of it. Constitutional texts have never had the virtues that they are given: rather than promoting social progress and equality, they have most often been tools of domination. Despite their seductive rhetoric, these writings are indeed powerless to bring about the ideals they proclaim. Unable to limit the power of constituted interests, they served above all the assertion of an economic rationality indifferent to the fate of the populations, under the guise of defense of the rule of law and freedoms. Tracing the history of writing constitutions and their effects, Laureline Fontaine offers an innovative criticism of this foundation of liberal societies. It sh...