From a legal-philosophical point of view, The Redress of Law presents a critical analysis of a number of related doctrinal fields: constitutional, labour and EU Law. Focusing on the organisation and protection of work, this book asks what it means to protect work as an essential aspect of human (individual and collective) flourishing. This is an ambitious and highly sophisticated intervention in contemporary academic and political debates around a set of critically important questions connected to processes of globalisation and market integration. The author redefines the nature of legal and political thought in an age in which market rationality has exceeded its classic domain and has come to pervade the organization of social and political life. This restatement of critical legal theory is intended to defend the concept of constitutionalism and suggest new ways to deploy the law strategically.
- Develops the concept of political constitutionalism
- Explores interface of the legal system with the political and the economic systems
- Explains phenomenology and critical theory as they apply to law
Read more
Reviews & endorsements
'By which strategies will we reclaim 'our' constitutions from the demands of global capitalist markets and turn them into the political warrant of the freedom they were meant to serve: the freedom of dignity and solidarity? A masterfully orchestrated plethora of arguments, pairing admirable philosophical depth and practical legal design. Critical constitutional theory at its best.' Bert van Roermund, Honorary Professor (em.) Tilburg Law School
'This is the most profound critical theory of constitutionality I know of. The enormous range of social and political theories Christodoulidis is engaging with is breathtaking. He discusses them in depth, not from the cool distant standpoint of neutral scholarship but from the perspective of a political constitutionalism that seeks to synthesize Karl Marx' heritage with Niklas Luhmann's ultra-modern systems theory. His devastating critique of emerging transnational constitutions has one main target – the imperialism of total market thinking. However, what makes his analyses even more fascinating, Christodoulidis does not restrict himself to the usual exercises in critical theory which are suffering from their lack of credible alternatives. He develops strategies for a renewed constitutionality which break the monopoly of nation state constitutions and search for a political constitutionalization of society, particularly continuing the tradition of 'autogestionnaire' labour constitutionalism. He follows a double strategy. While the reformist strategy of 'militant formalisms' seeks to protect the integrity of law against the intrusions of economic rationality, the strategy of 'rupture' and the strategy of 'immanent critique' follow a more radical agenda.' Gunther Teubner, Professor of Private Law and Legal Sociology, Goethe Universität Frankfurt
'No-one has captured the distinction between market constitutionalism and political constitutionalism more vividly or more insightfully than Christodoulidis. And no-one has framed the choice between them more profoundly. This is a book that captures contemporary law's critical condition, but also its continuing critical contribution, with great subtlety and imagination' Neil Walker, Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations, University of Edinburgh Law School
'Since Aristotle, jurists and philosophers have studied how human societies are constituted. In a fascinating and poetic fresco, Emilios Christodoulidis also shows how they are today dislocated by market constitutionalism. In a thoughtful dialogue with an impressive variety of authors, he also sheds light on the resources that the law offers to escape the grip of the 'total market'.' Alain Supiot, Professor of Law, Collège de France
See more reviews
Customer reviews

Not yet reviewed
Be the first to review

Log in to review

Review was not posted due to profanity
×

, create a review

(If you're not , sign out)

Please enter the right captcha value

Please enter a star rating.

Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

How do you rate this item?

Reviews must contain at least 12 words about the product.

×

Product details
- Date Published: April 2021
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781108487030
- length: 350 pages
- dimensions: 160 x 235 x 40 mm
- weight: 1.15kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I. Political Phenomenology:
1.1. Hannah Arendt and the theory of the bourgeois public sphere
1.2. Simone Weil, necessity and courage
1.3. The phenomenology of work
1.4. Toward a critical phenomenology
Part II. Political Constitutionalism:
2.1. Constituent power and the constitutional distinction
2.2. Constitutionality
2.3. Labour, solidarity and the social constitution
2.4. Constitutionalism adrift
Part III. Market Constitutionalism:
3.1. Market trajectories
3.2. 'Total market' thinking
3.3. Europe's social market and the disembedding of labour protection
3.4. The deep commodification of labour
Part IV. Strategies of redress:
4.1 The constitutional situation
4.2. Militant formalisms
4.3. Constitution, autogestion, rupture
4.4: Constitutionalising contradiction
toward an open constitutional dialectic.
Look Inside
Author
Emilios Christodoulidis, University of Glasgow
Emilios Christodoulidis holds the Chair of Jurisprudence at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of the award-winning Law and Reflexive Politics (1996), edits the book series Critical Studies in Jurisprudence, and serves as managing editor of Law & Critique.