Paul Blokker is associate professor at the Department of Sociology and Economic Law, University of Bologna, Italy. He also coordinates two research projects at the Charles University, Prague. He obtained his Ph.D. from the European University Institute, Florence. His research interests are the political sociology of democracy, modern constitutionalism, constitutional rationalities, critique and dissent, democracy and plurality, multiple modernities and multiple democracies, pragmatic sociology, (local) democratic participation, and Central and Eastern Europe.
He is a member of the editorial collective of the new journal Social Imaginaries, series co-editor of the book series Social Imaginaries (Rowman and Littlefield), and member of the International Editorial Board for the European Journal of Social Theory.
Public sociology needs to resist a governmentality which understands individuals as objects, and ... more Public sociology needs to resist a governmentality which understands individuals as objects, and needs to return to people's subjectivity: perceptions, understandings, and demands. Our modern societies increasingly display forms of rebellion against professionalized, expert, or technocratic knowledge and intellectual-scientific wisdom. This rebellion often takes the form of 'populism'. This chapter will make a case for a specific type of populist sociology, in contrast to the currently prevalent anti-populist sociology. It will first start from what is the currently most diffused understanding of populism. Second, it will critically discuss the origin of contemporary understandings of populism. Third, the chapter will discuss the call for a 'populist sociology'. Fourth, turning outwards to society, critical and emancipatory forms of leftwing populism are discussed. Fifth, a case is made for a 'democratic populism' or 'civic populism', which can be understood as the basis for one form of intending a 'public sociology'.
M. Reuchamps and Y. Welp (Eds.), Deliberative Constitution-Making: Opportunities and Challenges, Routledge., 2023
The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of co... more The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of constitutional change. The chapter will focus on deliberation – in particular in the guise of citizens’ assemblies - in relation to constitutional reforms. Various processes of constitutional amendment and constitution-making – or more broadly relating to issues of quasi-constitutional standing – have included forms of citizen deliberation. Deliberative democratic practices are situated within the bigger picture of citizen participation in constitutional reforms, and the basics of deliberation introduced, to subsequently examine a number of selected cases of citizen deliberation in processes of constitutional change, regarding exponents, forms of participant selection, site of deliberation, types of deliberation, outcomes and manifestations of participation in the process. The final section discusses a number of critical issues, including the ad hoc nature of deliberative processes, the issue of how to connect micro-level to macro-level deliberation and issues regarding representation, legitimacy, and empowerment.
Paul Blokker, 2021, ed., Imagining Europe. Transnational contestation and civic populism, series European Political Sociology, Palgrave., 2021
The chapter analyses and conceptually clarifies constitutional mobilization on the transnational ... more The chapter analyses and conceptually clarifies constitutional mobilization on the transnational level. It discusses the nature of the structural ‘constitutional deficit’ of the EU as well as the constituent roles of organized European civil society. Social movements played a prominent role in the original Convention on the Future of Europe, and have continued to do so in recent years, mobilizing for a bottom-up form of constituent politics. The chapter hence elaborates the specific notion of ‘constitutional mobilization’, conceptualizing different dimensions of civil society involvement in democratic and constitutional politics, and relating such involvement to manifestations of constituent politics. It builds on literature on constitutional mobilization and distinguishes between different constituent practices: constituent articulation, constituent activation, constituent action, and comprehensive constituent or radical constituting claims. Such distinctions help to diversify between forms of mobilization and a variety of claims, and to bring out the relative distance of transnational actors vis-à-vis formal institutions and processes (of amendment). The distinctive forms of critique, alternative visions, and constitutional propositions of civil society actors will be discussed, in part drawing on interviews conducted in the context of the research project Transnational Populism and European Democracy (TRAPpED). In the final part, the chapter briefly reflects on the experiences of constitutional politics in the EU with regard to the current Conference on the Future of Europe.
‘The Evolution of Constitutionalism in Post-Communist Countries’, in: P. Van Elsuwege and R. Petrov (eds), Post-Soviet Constitutions and Challenges of Regional Integration: Adapting to European and Eurasian integration projects, Routledge., 2017
The centrality of legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights in the radical c... more The centrality of legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights in the radical changes in the former communist countries since 1989 has been widely noticed and analysed. There are three reasons of why one would want to refer to a distinctive post-communist experience with constitutionalism. First of all, all the constitutional orders in the region emerged after a prolonged experience with communism. Second, a good part of the countries in the region embarked on a process of obtaining membership of the European Union (EU), while others have become part of the EU ‘neighbourhood’, and of the Council of Europe (CoE), a process often referred to as the ‘return to Europe’. Third, many countries appear anno 2017 to be in an ongoing process of some form of transformation, particularly visible in explicit ‘counterconstitutional’ moves in Hungary and Poland, but equally expressed in more modest ways of ‘illiberal’ or ‘counterconstitutional’ practice elsewhere (e.g. Romania).
The chapter will start with a discussion of the post-1989 process of constitution-making, with an emphasis on the widespread adherence in the region to a model of legal or ‘new’ constitutionalism. Second, the EU Enlargement process will be related to constitutional trajectories in the region, while, third, the role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and, fourth, the complex nature, and the persistence, of national sovereignty in the context of EU law will be discussed, on the basis of relevant judgments. Fifth, the recent illiberal developments and their significance for constitutionalism in some countries (Poland, Hungary) will be identified. In the concluding section, some potential lessons for post-Soviet neighbourhood countries will be outlined.
The recent attempt at a ‘Grande Riforma’ of the Italian Constitution, rejected in a referendum he... more The recent attempt at a ‘Grande Riforma’ of the Italian Constitution, rejected in a referendum held on 4 December 2016, is the latest addition to a string of reform attempts in Italy, in particular since the early 1990s. The objective of the chapter is to engage with the Italian ‘season of constitutional reform’ (1990-), by focusing on Italian constitutional politics as well as shifting constitutional discourses, analyzing particularly the period 2005-2016. The reform season consists in more or less permanent political attention to the theme of constitutional reform, and the regular set-up of political reform projects: two bicameral commissions in 1993 and 1997 respectively, comprehensive reforms followed by constitutional referenda in 2001, 2006, and 2016 (with different outcomes). The aim in this chapter is to contribute to a political sociology of constitutional politics and reform, paying systematic attention to constitutional conflict, a variety of constitutional subjects and interpreters, and shifting understandings of constitutionalism, and emphasizing the relative openness of the constitutional imaginary to interpretation.
Constitutional Acceleration within the European Union and Beyond, 2017
Modern constitutionalism as an idea and practice is facing great uncertainty in current times. Sc... more Modern constitutionalism as an idea and practice is facing great uncertainty in current times. Scholarly debates focus predominantly on constitutions beyond the state, while the predicament of domestic constitutionalism is much less considered. This volume contributes to a theoretically informed analysis of the key challenges and changes affecting domestic constitutionalism in Europe and beyond, departing from the idea of ‘constitutional acceleration’ or the increased propensity of different actors to engage in (formal) reform of the constitutional order. The volume points to a fundamental change in the function of constitutions in that constitutions themselves are increasingly subjects of political contestation rather than framing political debates.
The collection of essays addresses a range of critical challenges – including societal acceleration, depoliticization, civic engagement, multi-faceted constituent power, modernization, populism and nationalism, and transnationalization. The volume includes a variety of disciplinary, and in some cases interdisciplinary, approaches, including (political) sociology, political science, constitutional law, and constitutional and legal theory, and will be of interest to researchers and students in any of these areas. Case studies focus on the EU and the wider European context, and include highly relevant but little known or ill-understood cases, such as the recent constitutional events in Iceland, Italy, or Romania, and cases of democratic reversal, such as Hungary, while also engaging with traditional but rapidly changing cases of constitutional interest, such as the UK.
J. Gerkrath, & X. Contiades (eds.), Participatory Constitutional Change: The people as amenders of the Constitution, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
In this chapter, I will look at one recent tendency in constitutional politics, that is, an (poss... more In this chapter, I will look at one recent tendency in constitutional politics, that is, an (possibly increased) emphasis on a recourse to popular participation in the reforming of constitutional orders. There are now quite some examples in contemporary Europe where constitutional revision and amendment is orchestrated in such a way as to include the voice of the people. A transversal set of arguments in these projects of constitutional revision is that they provide an explicit response to civic discontent, structural democratic deficiencies, and that reforms can only be successful if citizens and/or civil society are able to participate. In the chapter I want to, first, discuss different degrees of sensibility in constitutional theory to forms of inclusion and civic participation in constitutional politics, concisely engaging with the dimensions of constitutional subjectivity and forms of collective autonomy. I will search for these dimensions in what I will call legal, political, popular, and democratic understandings of constitutionalism. In a second step, I will turn to a number of recent examples of citizen involvement in constitution-making in the cases of Iceland, Ireland, and Romania. Finally, I will conclude that the recourse to the people is often more apparent than real, and that only in few instances civic participation in constitutional politics lives up to the requirements set by normative democratic theory.
"This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of democracy in Europe, with a focus on t... more "This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of democracy in Europe, with a focus on the new EU member states, and makes an important and original contribution to the debate on the future of European democracy.
Author Paul Blokker seeks to provide a critical reconceptualization of the notion of democratic political culture by developing a ‘multiple democracies’ theoretical approach. He draws on debates in democratization theory and normative political theory, and presents a cultural-sociological approach for the analysis of democratization and democratic regimes. This approach emphasizes the historical and cultural embedment of democracy, identifies a potential variety of ‘ethics of democracy’ that underpin democratic political cultures, and points to the significance of democratic imagination in the interpretation and recombination of such ethics.
The book explores the relevance of this approach by analysing multiple political cultures and their role in the emergence of democratic regimes in three new member states - Hungary, Poland, and Romania - providing a detailed description and analysis of political cultures by means of the analysis of constitutional politics, constitutional texts, and political elite discourses, and the identification of distinct politico-cultural elements that distinguish these societies from each other.
It will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy, European studies, post-communist studies, political theory and comparative politics."
This report contributes to the debate on how Erasmus+ activities and projects may stimulate civic... more This report contributes to the debate on how Erasmus+ activities and projects may stimulate civic engagement and political participation, amongst young people but also regarding adults. For this purpose, it is important to bring clarity on differences between social and civic engagement, and participation, on one hand, and political engagement and participation, on the other. The report reflects on the importance of engagement and participation for the project of European integration, disentangles the different dimensions of individual and collective engagement and participation, and briefly discusses how the Erasmus+ Programme relates to civic and political involvement.
in M. Reuchamps and Y. Welp (Eds.), Deliberative Constitution-Making: Opportunities and Challenges, Routledge., 2023
The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of co... more The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of constitutional change. The chapter will focus on deliberation – in particular in the guise of citizens’ assemblies - in relation to constitutional reforms. Various processes of constitutional amendment and constitution-making – or more broadly relating to issues of quasi-constitutional standing – have included forms of citizen deliberation. Deliberative democratic practices are situated within the bigger picture of citizen participation in constitutional reforms, and the basics of deliberation introduced, to subsequently examine a number of selected cases of citizen deliberation in processes of constitutional change, regarding exponents, forms of participant selection, site of deliberation, types of deliberation, outcomes and manifestations of participation in the process. The final section discusses a number of critical issues, including the ad hoc nature of deliberative processes, the issue of how to connect micro-level to macro-level deliberation and issues regarding representation, legitimacy, and empowerment.
Public sociology needs to resist a governmentality which understands individuals as objects, and ... more Public sociology needs to resist a governmentality which understands individuals as objects, and needs to return to people's subjectivity: perceptions, understandings, and demands. Our modern societies increasingly display forms of rebellion against professionalized, expert, or technocratic knowledge and intellectual-scientific wisdom. This rebellion often takes the form of 'populism'. This chapter will make a case for a specific type of populist sociology, in contrast to the currently prevalent anti-populist sociology. It will first start from what is the currently most diffused understanding of populism. Second, it will critically discuss the origin of contemporary understandings of populism. Third, the chapter will discuss the call for a 'populist sociology'. Fourth, turning outwards to society, critical and emancipatory forms of leftwing populism are discussed. Fifth, a case is made for a 'democratic populism' or 'civic populism', which can be understood as the basis for one form of intending a 'public sociology'.
M. Reuchamps and Y. Welp (Eds.), Deliberative Constitution-Making: Opportunities and Challenges, Routledge., 2023
The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of co... more The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of constitutional change. The chapter will focus on deliberation – in particular in the guise of citizens’ assemblies - in relation to constitutional reforms. Various processes of constitutional amendment and constitution-making – or more broadly relating to issues of quasi-constitutional standing – have included forms of citizen deliberation. Deliberative democratic practices are situated within the bigger picture of citizen participation in constitutional reforms, and the basics of deliberation introduced, to subsequently examine a number of selected cases of citizen deliberation in processes of constitutional change, regarding exponents, forms of participant selection, site of deliberation, types of deliberation, outcomes and manifestations of participation in the process. The final section discusses a number of critical issues, including the ad hoc nature of deliberative processes, the issue of how to connect micro-level to macro-level deliberation and issues regarding representation, legitimacy, and empowerment.
Paul Blokker, 2021, ed., Imagining Europe. Transnational contestation and civic populism, series European Political Sociology, Palgrave., 2021
The chapter analyses and conceptually clarifies constitutional mobilization on the transnational ... more The chapter analyses and conceptually clarifies constitutional mobilization on the transnational level. It discusses the nature of the structural ‘constitutional deficit’ of the EU as well as the constituent roles of organized European civil society. Social movements played a prominent role in the original Convention on the Future of Europe, and have continued to do so in recent years, mobilizing for a bottom-up form of constituent politics. The chapter hence elaborates the specific notion of ‘constitutional mobilization’, conceptualizing different dimensions of civil society involvement in democratic and constitutional politics, and relating such involvement to manifestations of constituent politics. It builds on literature on constitutional mobilization and distinguishes between different constituent practices: constituent articulation, constituent activation, constituent action, and comprehensive constituent or radical constituting claims. Such distinctions help to diversify between forms of mobilization and a variety of claims, and to bring out the relative distance of transnational actors vis-à-vis formal institutions and processes (of amendment). The distinctive forms of critique, alternative visions, and constitutional propositions of civil society actors will be discussed, in part drawing on interviews conducted in the context of the research project Transnational Populism and European Democracy (TRAPpED). In the final part, the chapter briefly reflects on the experiences of constitutional politics in the EU with regard to the current Conference on the Future of Europe.
‘The Evolution of Constitutionalism in Post-Communist Countries’, in: P. Van Elsuwege and R. Petrov (eds), Post-Soviet Constitutions and Challenges of Regional Integration: Adapting to European and Eurasian integration projects, Routledge., 2017
The centrality of legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights in the radical c... more The centrality of legality, the rule of law, constitutionalism, and human rights in the radical changes in the former communist countries since 1989 has been widely noticed and analysed. There are three reasons of why one would want to refer to a distinctive post-communist experience with constitutionalism. First of all, all the constitutional orders in the region emerged after a prolonged experience with communism. Second, a good part of the countries in the region embarked on a process of obtaining membership of the European Union (EU), while others have become part of the EU ‘neighbourhood’, and of the Council of Europe (CoE), a process often referred to as the ‘return to Europe’. Third, many countries appear anno 2017 to be in an ongoing process of some form of transformation, particularly visible in explicit ‘counterconstitutional’ moves in Hungary and Poland, but equally expressed in more modest ways of ‘illiberal’ or ‘counterconstitutional’ practice elsewhere (e.g. Romania).
The chapter will start with a discussion of the post-1989 process of constitution-making, with an emphasis on the widespread adherence in the region to a model of legal or ‘new’ constitutionalism. Second, the EU Enlargement process will be related to constitutional trajectories in the region, while, third, the role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and, fourth, the complex nature, and the persistence, of national sovereignty in the context of EU law will be discussed, on the basis of relevant judgments. Fifth, the recent illiberal developments and their significance for constitutionalism in some countries (Poland, Hungary) will be identified. In the concluding section, some potential lessons for post-Soviet neighbourhood countries will be outlined.
The recent attempt at a ‘Grande Riforma’ of the Italian Constitution, rejected in a referendum he... more The recent attempt at a ‘Grande Riforma’ of the Italian Constitution, rejected in a referendum held on 4 December 2016, is the latest addition to a string of reform attempts in Italy, in particular since the early 1990s. The objective of the chapter is to engage with the Italian ‘season of constitutional reform’ (1990-), by focusing on Italian constitutional politics as well as shifting constitutional discourses, analyzing particularly the period 2005-2016. The reform season consists in more or less permanent political attention to the theme of constitutional reform, and the regular set-up of political reform projects: two bicameral commissions in 1993 and 1997 respectively, comprehensive reforms followed by constitutional referenda in 2001, 2006, and 2016 (with different outcomes). The aim in this chapter is to contribute to a political sociology of constitutional politics and reform, paying systematic attention to constitutional conflict, a variety of constitutional subjects and interpreters, and shifting understandings of constitutionalism, and emphasizing the relative openness of the constitutional imaginary to interpretation.
Constitutional Acceleration within the European Union and Beyond, 2017
Modern constitutionalism as an idea and practice is facing great uncertainty in current times. Sc... more Modern constitutionalism as an idea and practice is facing great uncertainty in current times. Scholarly debates focus predominantly on constitutions beyond the state, while the predicament of domestic constitutionalism is much less considered. This volume contributes to a theoretically informed analysis of the key challenges and changes affecting domestic constitutionalism in Europe and beyond, departing from the idea of ‘constitutional acceleration’ or the increased propensity of different actors to engage in (formal) reform of the constitutional order. The volume points to a fundamental change in the function of constitutions in that constitutions themselves are increasingly subjects of political contestation rather than framing political debates.
The collection of essays addresses a range of critical challenges – including societal acceleration, depoliticization, civic engagement, multi-faceted constituent power, modernization, populism and nationalism, and transnationalization. The volume includes a variety of disciplinary, and in some cases interdisciplinary, approaches, including (political) sociology, political science, constitutional law, and constitutional and legal theory, and will be of interest to researchers and students in any of these areas. Case studies focus on the EU and the wider European context, and include highly relevant but little known or ill-understood cases, such as the recent constitutional events in Iceland, Italy, or Romania, and cases of democratic reversal, such as Hungary, while also engaging with traditional but rapidly changing cases of constitutional interest, such as the UK.
J. Gerkrath, & X. Contiades (eds.), Participatory Constitutional Change: The people as amenders of the Constitution, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
In this chapter, I will look at one recent tendency in constitutional politics, that is, an (poss... more In this chapter, I will look at one recent tendency in constitutional politics, that is, an (possibly increased) emphasis on a recourse to popular participation in the reforming of constitutional orders. There are now quite some examples in contemporary Europe where constitutional revision and amendment is orchestrated in such a way as to include the voice of the people. A transversal set of arguments in these projects of constitutional revision is that they provide an explicit response to civic discontent, structural democratic deficiencies, and that reforms can only be successful if citizens and/or civil society are able to participate. In the chapter I want to, first, discuss different degrees of sensibility in constitutional theory to forms of inclusion and civic participation in constitutional politics, concisely engaging with the dimensions of constitutional subjectivity and forms of collective autonomy. I will search for these dimensions in what I will call legal, political, popular, and democratic understandings of constitutionalism. In a second step, I will turn to a number of recent examples of citizen involvement in constitution-making in the cases of Iceland, Ireland, and Romania. Finally, I will conclude that the recourse to the people is often more apparent than real, and that only in few instances civic participation in constitutional politics lives up to the requirements set by normative democratic theory.
"This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of democracy in Europe, with a focus on t... more "This book provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of democracy in Europe, with a focus on the new EU member states, and makes an important and original contribution to the debate on the future of European democracy.
Author Paul Blokker seeks to provide a critical reconceptualization of the notion of democratic political culture by developing a ‘multiple democracies’ theoretical approach. He draws on debates in democratization theory and normative political theory, and presents a cultural-sociological approach for the analysis of democratization and democratic regimes. This approach emphasizes the historical and cultural embedment of democracy, identifies a potential variety of ‘ethics of democracy’ that underpin democratic political cultures, and points to the significance of democratic imagination in the interpretation and recombination of such ethics.
The book explores the relevance of this approach by analysing multiple political cultures and their role in the emergence of democratic regimes in three new member states - Hungary, Poland, and Romania - providing a detailed description and analysis of political cultures by means of the analysis of constitutional politics, constitutional texts, and political elite discourses, and the identification of distinct politico-cultural elements that distinguish these societies from each other.
It will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy, European studies, post-communist studies, political theory and comparative politics."
This report contributes to the debate on how Erasmus+ activities and projects may stimulate civic... more This report contributes to the debate on how Erasmus+ activities and projects may stimulate civic engagement and political participation, amongst young people but also regarding adults. For this purpose, it is important to bring clarity on differences between social and civic engagement, and participation, on one hand, and political engagement and participation, on the other. The report reflects on the importance of engagement and participation for the project of European integration, disentangles the different dimensions of individual and collective engagement and participation, and briefly discusses how the Erasmus+ Programme relates to civic and political involvement.
in M. Reuchamps and Y. Welp (Eds.), Deliberative Constitution-Making: Opportunities and Challenges, Routledge., 2023
The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of co... more The significance of citizen participation is increasingly being acknowledged in the context of constitutional change. The chapter will focus on deliberation – in particular in the guise of citizens’ assemblies - in relation to constitutional reforms. Various processes of constitutional amendment and constitution-making – or more broadly relating to issues of quasi-constitutional standing – have included forms of citizen deliberation. Deliberative democratic practices are situated within the bigger picture of citizen participation in constitutional reforms, and the basics of deliberation introduced, to subsequently examine a number of selected cases of citizen deliberation in processes of constitutional change, regarding exponents, forms of participant selection, site of deliberation, types of deliberation, outcomes and manifestations of participation in the process. The final section discusses a number of critical issues, including the ad hoc nature of deliberative processes, the issue of how to connect micro-level to macro-level deliberation and issues regarding representation, legitimacy, and empowerment.
The intense engagement of populists with constitutionalism—a phenomenon originally related to exp... more The intense engagement of populists with constitutionalism—a phenomenon originally related to experiences in Latin America—is increasingly evident in some of the new European Union member states. But the populist phenomenon is clearly not confined to more recently established democracies. Populist constitutionalism stands for a number of distinctive tendencies in constitutional politics and practices which frequently are in tension with—and may even threaten—fundamental values, human rights, representative democracy, and the rule of law. The relation between populism and constitutionalism is, however, not necessarily one of anti-thesis, but rather manifests itself in distinctive ways, depending on specific contexts and variations. In this special issue, we argue that populist constitutionalism is best analyzed in a comparative, and historically and contextually attuned manner. The special issue wants to contribute to understandings of populist constitutionalism, which are both theor...
Populist constitutionalism is an increasingly discussed topic, but so far the analysis of the int... more Populist constitutionalism is an increasingly discussed topic, but so far the analysis of the interrelation between populism and constitutionalism lacks a more systematic and comparative approach, able to bring out significant variety. Most of the recent literature on the phenomenon focuses on (right-wing) populism as a threat to constitutional democracy. This Article sets out to contribute to a more comparative and comprehensive discussion of the relation between varieties of populism—situated on a continuum from left- to right-wing, but also from national to transnational—with varieties of constitutional projects. The objective of this Article is threefold. First, I argue that it is problematic to consider legal constitutionalism as exhausting the possibilities of constitutionalism. Second, if populism is reduced to right-wing projects and as an unequivocal threat to liberal democracy, it becomes difficult to distinguish between dissimilar manifestations of populist projects, in p...
Youth Entrepreneurship and Local Development in Central and Eastern Europe, 2017
This book analyses the opportunities and barriers for youth entrepreneurship amid systemic change... more This book analyses the opportunities and barriers for youth entrepreneurship amid systemic change in Central and Eastern Europe. The authors cover different aspects of youth entrepreneurship and its contribution to the debate on youth unemployment in transition economies.
Verfassunggebung in konsolidierten Demokratien, 2014
Since the deep economic crisis of 2008, Iceland has seen the emergence of a remarkable, experimen... more Since the deep economic crisis of 2008, Iceland has seen the emergence of a remarkable, experimental attempt at constitution-making from below. This Icelandic experiment constitutes a rare –- in distinct ways probably unique -- example of a popular or citizen-driven constitutionalism. The Icelandic participatory approach in many ways challenges core assumptions of mainstream, modernist understandings of constitutionalism, such as the idea of constitutionalism as a social phenomenon and practice dominated by legal professionals or that of constitutions as higher laws that are near to impossible to change. At the same time, in particular now that the constitution-making process seems halted, the Icelandic experience brings to the fore many questions that popular or democratic constitutionalism raises as an alternative understanding and practice of constitutionalism, not least related to the modes and effectiveness of participation, the notion of representation in the constitution-making process, the role of deliberation, the role of parliament and other political institutions, as well as the actual, substantive results of participatory constitution-making.In the chapter, we will first discuss the historical background of the 1944 Icelandic Constitution that is still in vigour. In a second step, the grassroots constitution-making process that emerged in 2009, and the reactions it provoked, are analyzed, while in a third step, we assess recent political events that conditioned the status of the constitution-making project -– now largely stalled in Icelandic parliament -- in the first half of 2013.
Regional Diversity and Local Development in the New Member States, 2009
The conventional view that holds that the post-1989 economic transformations in Central and Easte... more The conventional view that holds that the post-1989 economic transformations in Central and Eastern Europe are in grosso modo about the convergence of these societies towards a western or Western European economic standard can in many ways be seen as still informing many studies on the issue (see, inter alia, Cernat, 2006; Lane, 2007; cf. Hay, 2004). One corollary of such a vision of convergence is the idea that the successful transformation from a communist economic system to a capitalist market economy is about the adoption of western models and institutions by the former communist countries — in other words, about ‘innovation through imitation’ (Keune et al., 2004: 586). In the period of capitalist restructuring in the wake of mass production in the West (‘post-Fordism’), the emphasis has often been on turning away from centralized approaches towards more flexible, decentralized ones, including in this a renaissance of cities and regions.2 A similar focus on models of decentralized and regional economic development and small and medium-sized enterprise development is endorsed for the countries of the East. Such a focus positively relates to those reforms — mostly economic in nature — that were implemented in various countries and on different occasions before 1989 (cf. Bateman, 2000; Dallago and McIntyre, 2003; Hardy and Smith, 2004).
The article discusses the status and role of politics — in its various facets — in the pragmatic ... more The article discusses the status and role of politics — in its various facets — in the pragmatic sociology of critique. We focus on a number of different dimensions of politics — politics-as-justification, politics-as-distribution, politics-as-constitution, and politics-as-defiance — that can said to be of importance for a pragmatic sociology of critique, but that have not all been taken up equally in this approach. We situate pragmatic sociology in a tradition of thought that views politics as emerging in the settlement of disputes over differences without resorting to violence. However, we argue that pragmatic sociology tends to ignore questions of the constitution of politics, and suggest that one way of bringing the foundational aspect upfront is by conceptualizing and studying defiance, including forms of explicit (dissent) and implicit critique (resistance) of the existing order.
Pragmatic sociology–as a distinct, new type of French social science–probably became best-known i... more Pragmatic sociology–as a distinct, new type of French social science–probably became best-known in the English-speaking world because of the major contribution On Justification: Economies of Worth, published in English in 2006, but already introduced in a number of articles in the European Journal of Social Theory in 1999, as well as through an earlier article by Nicolas Dodier in 1993. 1 On Justification is, however, probably best understood as a 'travail d'etape'(Breviglieri et al., 2009: 8), an intermediate stage in a much larger and ...
GD= Gerard Delanty; JPA= Johann Arnason; PB= Paul Blokker GD It would be interesting to begin wit... more GD= Gerard Delanty; JPA= Johann Arnason; PB= Paul Blokker GD It would be interesting to begin with an account of the early influences on your work. For instance, the critical theory of the Frankfurt School appears to have been an important influence, but you have also sought to make links with the hermeneutic tradition.
There is a modest but growing scholarly interest in populism in relation to the law and to judici... more There is a modest but growing scholarly interest in populism in relation to the law and to judicial issues, but until now this interest remains largely confined to legal studies, in particular studies in constitutional law...
The main argument is that the contemporary manifestations of right-wing populism in Europe ought ... more The main argument is that the contemporary manifestations of right-wing populism in Europe ought to be understood, at least in part, as reactions to a distinctive form of postwar European society, which I will call here embedded constitutional democracy. The argument is that the populist reaction to embedded constitutional democracy generally takes a conservative form. This conservatism is expressed in rather different ways (ranging from ethnoreligious views to 'illiberal liberal' ones), but at the same time populism displays a shared core of criticisms on liberalism, and in particular regarding the internationalized or global version of liberalism. In the paper, I will start with a brief analysis of the emergence of postwar society in the form of embedded constitutional democracy, used as a backcloth for the subsequent discussion of critical views of liberal understandings of the law in conservative populist thinking. I will, then, focus on populists' critical views of liberalism and 'globalism', analyzed in the form of contemporary articulations of (conservative) populism in both East-Central Europe (Hungary and Poland), and Western Europe (France, Italy, the Netherlands). In order to identify ideological affinities and critical positions, I discuss four themes: abstractness and inauthenticity, identity threat, domination, and legal fundamentalism.
Populist constitutionalism is an increasingly discussed topic, but so far the analysis of the int... more Populist constitutionalism is an increasingly discussed topic, but so far the analysis of the interrelation between populism and constitutionalism lacks a more systematic and comparative approach, able to bring out significant variety. Most of the recent literature on the phenomenon focuses on (right-wing) populism as a threat to constitutional democracy. This Article sets out to contribute to a more comparative and comprehensive discussion of the relation between varieties of populism-situated on a continuum from left-to right-wing, but also from national to transnational-with varieties of constitutional projects. The objective of this Article is threefold. First, I argue that it is problematic to consider legal constitution-alism as exhausting the possibilities of constitutionalism. Second, if populism is reduced to right-wing projects and as an unequivocal threat to liberal democracy, it becomes difficult to distinguish between dissimilar manifestations of populist projects, in particular regarding constituent politics. Third, while hardly any attention has been paid to constitutionalism and populist claims on the transnational level, in the European context, transnational forms of populism and constituent politics manifest themselves frequently, articulating an incisive critique on the European constitutional and political status quo, and contributing to a re-imagination and democratization of the European constitutional reality. Populist constitutionalism is an increasingly discussed topic, but the interrelation between pop-ulism and constitutionalism still lacks a more systematic and comparative analysis. Much of the emerging literature on the phenomenon focuses on (right-wing) populism as a threat to constitutional democracy. 1 As such, a comparative and theoretical treatment of populist constitutionalism, which is able to deal with the different manifestations of the phenomenon, is as yet absent. In contrast to a relatively narrow focus on right-wing populism and its relation to constitutional change, this Article sets out to contribute to a more comparative and comprehensive discussion of the relation between varieties of populism-situated on a continuum from left-to right-wing, but also from national to transnational-with varieties of constitutional projects.
Call for Papers
Fragile Europe
5th Interim Conference
Political Sociology Research Netw... more Call for Papers
Fragile Europe
5th Interim Conference
Political Sociology Research Network 32 of the European Sociological Association
Prague, 2 -3 November 2018
Deadline submission paper and panel proposals: 14 May, 2018 (extended)
The European Union continues to face great challenges that strike at the heart of its existence. We see the rise of populist parties across the continent, and a conservative, nationalist backlash against the project of European integration. A significant swing to the right in European politics is not unrelated to the complexities of migration, as well as the negative impact of the financial and economic crises and permanent austerity.
The 5th mid-term conference of the research network on European Political Sociology (RN32) aims to gather scholars working on European matters from a political-sociological perspective. We particularly welcome proposals for individual papers and panels dealing with the following, interrelated themes:
1. Populism.
2. Feminist/sexualities projects and backlash.
3. (Transnational) social movements, austerity, and human rights.
4. Migration.
We invite the following types of contributions:
1. Panel proposals containing abstract (max. 300 words); title and keywords; chair, discussant and a maximum of 4 abstracts (max. 300 words; title and keywords; author(s)). Important: please indicate a maximum of two themes that the proposed panel is closest to.
2. Paper presentation proposals containing abstract (max. 300 words; title and keywords; author(s)). Important: please indicate a maximum of two of the above themes that the proposed paper lies closest to.
Proposals are to be submitted online:
europeanpoliticalsociology.wordpress.com/submission
or, alternatively, to be send to: paulus.blokker@fsv.cuni.cz, not later than 14 May, 2018.
Scientific Committee:
Paul Blokker (Charles University), Pauline Cullen (Maynooth University), Alberta Giorgi (University of Bergamo), Virginie Guiraudon (Sciences Po), Cristina Marchetti (University of Roma Sapienza), Oscar Mazzoleni (University of Lausanne), Ov Cristian Norocel (Université libre de Bruxelles), Carlo Ruzza (University of Trento), Gabriella Szabó (Hungarian Academy of Sciences/Centre for Social Sciences), Hans-Joerg Trenz (University of Copenhagen).
Organizing Committee:
Paul Blokker (Charles University), Ondrej Cisar (Charles University), Dino Numerato (Charles University), Yuliya Moskvina (Charles University), Petra Honová (Charles University), Kristian Sram (Charles University).
The project Constitutional Politics in Post-Westphalian Europe (CoPolis) will hold its final work... more The project Constitutional Politics in Post-Westphalian Europe (CoPolis) will hold its final workshop
The Renovation of the Modern Constitution: Contemporary Constitutional Transformations in Europe
on 25 May 2015, at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy.
Investigations into social imaginaries have burgeoned in recent
years. From ‘the capitalist imag... more Investigations into social imaginaries have burgeoned in recent
years. From ‘the capitalist imaginary’ to the ‘democratic imaginary’, from the ‘ecological imaginary’ to ‘the global imaginary’ – and beyond – the social imaginaries field has expanded across disciplines and beyond the academy.
Th e recent debates on social imaginaries and potential new imaginaries reveal a recognisable field and paradigm-in-the-making. We argue that Castoriadis, Ricoeur, and Taylor have articulated the most important theoretical frameworks
for understanding social imaginaries, although the field as a whole remains heterogeneous. We further argue that the notion of social imaginaries draws on the modern understanding of the imagination as authentically creative
(as opposed to imitative). We contend that an elaboration of social imaginaries involves a significant, qualitative shift in the understanding of societies as collectively and politically-(auto)instituted formations that are irreducible
to inter-subjectivity or systemic logics. After marking out the contours of the field and recounting a philosophical history of the imagination (including deliberations on the reproductive and creative imaginations, as well as consideration
of contemporary Japanese contributions), the essay turns to debates onsocial imaginaries in more concrete contexts, specifically political-economic imaginaries, the ecological imaginary, multiple modernities and their intercivilisational
encounters. Th e social imaginaries fi eld imparts powerful messages for the human sciences and wider publics. In particular, social imaginaries hold significant implications for ontological, phenomenological and philosophical anthropological questions; for the cultural, social, and political
horizons of contemporary worlds; and for ecological and economic phenomena (including their manifest crises). The essay concludes with the argument that social imaginaries as a paradigm-in-the-making offers valuable means by
which movements towards social change can be elucidated as well providing an open horizon for the critiques of existing social practices.
Thinking through Transition is the first concentrated effort to explore the most recent chapter o... more Thinking through Transition is the first concentrated effort to explore the most recent chapter of East Central European past from the perspective of intellectual history. Post-socialism can be understood as a period of scarcity and preponderance of ideas, the dramatic eclipsing of the dissident legacy (aswell as the older political traditions), and the rise of technocratic and post-political governance. This book, grounded in empirical research sensitive to local contexts, proposes instead a history of adaptations, entanglements, and unintended consequences. In order to enable and invite comparison, the volume is structured around major domains of political thought, some of them generic (liberalism, conservatism, the Left), others (populism and politics of history) deemed typical for post-socialism. However, as shown by the authors, the generic often turns out to be heavily dependent on its immediate setting, and the typical resonates with processes that are anything but vernacular.
"It is impossible, after reading this volume, to still give any credit to those who claimed that 1989 was a revolution without ideas, or could not be a revolution because it offered no ideas. We should be grateful that a new generation of scholars—most of whom not burdened by the assumptions and affinities that have inhibited participants and contemporary observers—can look with a cool eye both at the thinking that accompanied radical change and at the sometimes bizarre amalgams that have furnished political language in the last quarter-century in East Central Europe." - Padraic Kenney, Professor of History and International Studies, Indiana University
"This is the most comprehensive and balanced intellectual history so far available of post-communist East Central Europe, and it is particularly instructive on the diversity of the field. The book is essential reading for those who want to know how the multiple transformations of the region were understood from within." - Jóhann P. Árnason, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, La Trobe University,Melbourne
This ground breaking series aims to investigate social imaginaries from theoretical, comparative,... more This ground breaking series aims to investigate social imaginaries from theoretical, comparative, historical, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Its objective is to foster challenging research on the of the creative imagination, on the other. The series publishes rigorous and innovative research theoretical work with historical and comparative analyses from interdisciplinary perspectives.
Uploads
The chapter will start with a discussion of the post-1989 process of constitution-making, with an emphasis on the widespread adherence in the region to a model of legal or ‘new’ constitutionalism. Second, the EU Enlargement process will be related to constitutional trajectories in the region, while, third, the role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and, fourth, the complex nature, and the persistence, of national sovereignty in the context of EU law will be discussed, on the basis of relevant judgments. Fifth, the recent illiberal developments and their significance for constitutionalism in some countries (Poland, Hungary) will be identified. In the concluding section, some potential lessons for post-Soviet neighbourhood countries will be outlined.
The collection of essays addresses a range of critical challenges – including societal acceleration, depoliticization, civic engagement, multi-faceted constituent power, modernization, populism and nationalism, and transnationalization. The volume includes a variety of disciplinary, and in some cases interdisciplinary, approaches, including (political) sociology, political science, constitutional law, and constitutional and legal theory, and will be of interest to researchers and students in any of these areas. Case studies focus on the EU and the wider European context, and include highly relevant but little known or ill-understood cases, such as the recent constitutional events in Iceland, Italy, or Romania, and cases of democratic reversal, such as Hungary, while also engaging with traditional but rapidly changing cases of constitutional interest, such as the UK.
In the chapter I want to, first, discuss different degrees of sensibility in constitutional theory to forms of inclusion and civic participation in constitutional politics, concisely engaging with the dimensions of constitutional subjectivity and forms of collective autonomy. I will search for these dimensions in what I will call legal, political, popular, and democratic understandings of constitutionalism. In a second step, I will turn to a number of recent examples of citizen involvement in constitution-making in the cases of Iceland, Ireland, and Romania. Finally, I will conclude that the recourse to the people is often more apparent than real, and that only in few instances civic participation in constitutional politics lives up to the requirements set by normative democratic theory.
Author Paul Blokker seeks to provide a critical reconceptualization of the notion of democratic political culture by developing a ‘multiple democracies’ theoretical approach. He draws on debates in democratization theory and normative political theory, and presents a cultural-sociological approach for the analysis of democratization and democratic regimes. This approach emphasizes the historical and cultural embedment of democracy, identifies a potential variety of ‘ethics of democracy’ that underpin democratic political cultures, and points to the significance of democratic imagination in the interpretation and recombination of such ethics.
The book explores the relevance of this approach by analysing multiple political cultures and their role in the emergence of democratic regimes in three new member states - Hungary, Poland, and Romania - providing a detailed description and analysis of political cultures by means of the analysis of constitutional politics, constitutional texts, and political elite discourses, and the identification of distinct politico-cultural elements that distinguish these societies from each other.
It will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy, European studies, post-communist studies, political theory and comparative politics."
The chapter will start with a discussion of the post-1989 process of constitution-making, with an emphasis on the widespread adherence in the region to a model of legal or ‘new’ constitutionalism. Second, the EU Enlargement process will be related to constitutional trajectories in the region, while, third, the role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and, fourth, the complex nature, and the persistence, of national sovereignty in the context of EU law will be discussed, on the basis of relevant judgments. Fifth, the recent illiberal developments and their significance for constitutionalism in some countries (Poland, Hungary) will be identified. In the concluding section, some potential lessons for post-Soviet neighbourhood countries will be outlined.
The collection of essays addresses a range of critical challenges – including societal acceleration, depoliticization, civic engagement, multi-faceted constituent power, modernization, populism and nationalism, and transnationalization. The volume includes a variety of disciplinary, and in some cases interdisciplinary, approaches, including (political) sociology, political science, constitutional law, and constitutional and legal theory, and will be of interest to researchers and students in any of these areas. Case studies focus on the EU and the wider European context, and include highly relevant but little known or ill-understood cases, such as the recent constitutional events in Iceland, Italy, or Romania, and cases of democratic reversal, such as Hungary, while also engaging with traditional but rapidly changing cases of constitutional interest, such as the UK.
In the chapter I want to, first, discuss different degrees of sensibility in constitutional theory to forms of inclusion and civic participation in constitutional politics, concisely engaging with the dimensions of constitutional subjectivity and forms of collective autonomy. I will search for these dimensions in what I will call legal, political, popular, and democratic understandings of constitutionalism. In a second step, I will turn to a number of recent examples of citizen involvement in constitution-making in the cases of Iceland, Ireland, and Romania. Finally, I will conclude that the recourse to the people is often more apparent than real, and that only in few instances civic participation in constitutional politics lives up to the requirements set by normative democratic theory.
Author Paul Blokker seeks to provide a critical reconceptualization of the notion of democratic political culture by developing a ‘multiple democracies’ theoretical approach. He draws on debates in democratization theory and normative political theory, and presents a cultural-sociological approach for the analysis of democratization and democratic regimes. This approach emphasizes the historical and cultural embedment of democracy, identifies a potential variety of ‘ethics of democracy’ that underpin democratic political cultures, and points to the significance of democratic imagination in the interpretation and recombination of such ethics.
The book explores the relevance of this approach by analysing multiple political cultures and their role in the emergence of democratic regimes in three new member states - Hungary, Poland, and Romania - providing a detailed description and analysis of political cultures by means of the analysis of constitutional politics, constitutional texts, and political elite discourses, and the identification of distinct politico-cultural elements that distinguish these societies from each other.
It will be of interest to students and scholars of democracy, European studies, post-communist studies, political theory and comparative politics."
Fragile Europe
5th Interim Conference
Political Sociology Research Network 32 of the European Sociological Association
Prague, 2 -3 November 2018
Deadline submission paper and panel proposals: 14 May, 2018 (extended)
The European Union continues to face great challenges that strike at the heart of its existence. We see the rise of populist parties across the continent, and a conservative, nationalist backlash against the project of European integration. A significant swing to the right in European politics is not unrelated to the complexities of migration, as well as the negative impact of the financial and economic crises and permanent austerity.
The 5th mid-term conference of the research network on European Political Sociology (RN32) aims to gather scholars working on European matters from a political-sociological perspective. We particularly welcome proposals for individual papers and panels dealing with the following, interrelated themes:
1. Populism.
2. Feminist/sexualities projects and backlash.
3. (Transnational) social movements, austerity, and human rights.
4. Migration.
We invite the following types of contributions:
1. Panel proposals containing abstract (max. 300 words); title and keywords; chair, discussant and a maximum of 4 abstracts (max. 300 words; title and keywords; author(s)). Important: please indicate a maximum of two themes that the proposed panel is closest to.
2. Paper presentation proposals containing abstract (max. 300 words; title and keywords; author(s)). Important: please indicate a maximum of two of the above themes that the proposed paper lies closest to.
Proposals are to be submitted online:
europeanpoliticalsociology.wordpress.com/submission
or, alternatively, to be send to: paulus.blokker@fsv.cuni.cz, not later than 14 May, 2018.
Scientific Committee:
Paul Blokker (Charles University), Pauline Cullen (Maynooth University), Alberta Giorgi (University of Bergamo), Virginie Guiraudon (Sciences Po), Cristina Marchetti (University of Roma Sapienza), Oscar Mazzoleni (University of Lausanne), Ov Cristian Norocel (Université libre de Bruxelles), Carlo Ruzza (University of Trento), Gabriella Szabó (Hungarian Academy of Sciences/Centre for Social Sciences), Hans-Joerg Trenz (University of Copenhagen).
Organizing Committee:
Paul Blokker (Charles University), Ondrej Cisar (Charles University), Dino Numerato (Charles University), Yuliya Moskvina (Charles University), Petra Honová (Charles University), Kristian Sram (Charles University).
Deadline Submission Papers: 14 May, 2018
Deadline notification: 15 June, 2018
Deadline registration: 1 September, 2018
Conference dates: 2 – 3 November, 2018
The Renovation of the Modern Constitution: Contemporary Constitutional Transformations in Europe
on 25 May 2015, at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy.
years. From ‘the capitalist imaginary’ to the ‘democratic imaginary’, from the ‘ecological imaginary’ to ‘the global imaginary’ – and beyond – the social imaginaries field has expanded across disciplines and beyond the academy.
Th e recent debates on social imaginaries and potential new imaginaries reveal a recognisable field and paradigm-in-the-making. We argue that Castoriadis, Ricoeur, and Taylor have articulated the most important theoretical frameworks
for understanding social imaginaries, although the field as a whole remains heterogeneous. We further argue that the notion of social imaginaries draws on the modern understanding of the imagination as authentically creative
(as opposed to imitative). We contend that an elaboration of social imaginaries involves a significant, qualitative shift in the understanding of societies as collectively and politically-(auto)instituted formations that are irreducible
to inter-subjectivity or systemic logics. After marking out the contours of the field and recounting a philosophical history of the imagination (including deliberations on the reproductive and creative imaginations, as well as consideration
of contemporary Japanese contributions), the essay turns to debates onsocial imaginaries in more concrete contexts, specifically political-economic imaginaries, the ecological imaginary, multiple modernities and their intercivilisational
encounters. Th e social imaginaries fi eld imparts powerful messages for the human sciences and wider publics. In particular, social imaginaries hold significant implications for ontological, phenomenological and philosophical anthropological questions; for the cultural, social, and political
horizons of contemporary worlds; and for ecological and economic phenomena (including their manifest crises). The essay concludes with the argument that social imaginaries as a paradigm-in-the-making offers valuable means by
which movements towards social change can be elucidated as well providing an open horizon for the critiques of existing social practices.
"It is impossible, after reading this volume, to still give any credit to those who claimed that 1989 was a revolution without ideas, or could not be a revolution because it offered no ideas. We should be grateful that a new generation of scholars—most of whom not burdened by the assumptions and affinities that have inhibited participants and contemporary observers—can look with a cool eye both at the thinking that accompanied radical change and at the sometimes bizarre amalgams that have furnished political language in the last quarter-century in East Central Europe." - Padraic Kenney, Professor of History and International Studies, Indiana University
"This is the most comprehensive and balanced intellectual history so far available of post-communist East Central Europe, and it is particularly instructive on the diversity of the field. The book is essential reading for those who want to know how the multiple transformations of the region were understood from within." - Jóhann P. Árnason, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, La Trobe University,Melbourne