Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Call for Applications: The Politics of International Constitutionalism

COST Action IS1003, together with the Centre on the Politics of Transnational Law and the Faculty of Law, VU University, Amsterdam, have issued a call for applications for a Ph.D. training school. The topic is "The Politics of International Constitutionalism." Here's the call:

Call for Applications

COST Action PhD Training School

“THE POLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL CONSTITUTIONALISM”

28 -30 August 2013

VU University, Amsterdam (the Netherlands)

Organized by COST Action IS1003 together with CEPT (Centre on the Politics of Transnational Law) and the Faculty of Law, VU University, Amsterdam

Keynote speakers

Prof. dr Jens Bartelson (Department of Political Science, University of Lund)

Prof. dr Nicholas Tsagourias (University of Sheffield, School of Law) (tbc)

Prof. dr Neil Walker (Edinburgh Law School)

Theme

Scholars of international constitutionalism have long discussed how various international legal systems can be characterized as ‘constitutional’, ‘plural’, or ‘fragmented’, the form and content of purported international constitutional norms, the potential legal bases on which these norms might rest and how these might interact with political processes. This PhD training school seeks to further explore and critically reflect upon the interplay between politics and law in these processes from an interdisciplinary perspective.

How can we understand the politics of constitutionalism? How do the various versions of international constitutionalism, pluralism, or fragmentation impact claims to legitimate authority? How does constitutionalism transform the ‘international’, and (re)produce the ‘political’ and the ‘legal’ as separate realms or social practices? What is the role for democracy and the state in a constitutionalizing international system? What actors, what norms, and what institutions and procedures become more or less important as international law is understood as either more constitutional, or more pluralist or more fragmented? How does international constitutionalism relate to basic ideas regarding justice, procedural fairness, and the rule of law beyond the state? The PhD school will address these and related issues regarding the politics of international constitutionalism, and explicitly invites participants to think broadly regarding this theme.

Coordinators

Tanja Aalberts (t.e.aalberts@vu.nl)

Jessica Lawrence (j.c.lawrence@vu.nl)

Wouter Werner (w.g.werner@vu.nl)

Format

Participants must submit a paper for presentation and discussion at the summer school. In addition to keynotes and PhD presentations, there will be workshops on Academic Publishing. In this light, participants are encouraged to submit a draft article, and get specific guidance and prepare their papers for (joint) publication in an internationally refereed journal. Alternatively, candidates can submit a positioning paper. For participants working on a publication, there will be a followup workshop in Amsterdam on January 8-9, 2014, with Prof. dr Jeffrey Dunoff (Temple University), to finalize the articles for submission.

Financial Support

This school is supported by the COST Action IS1003 ‘International Law Between Constitutionalization and Fragmentation: The Role of Law in the Post-National Constellation’ (www.il-cf.eu). A limited number of grants (up to a maximum of €500) are available for students from countries participating in COST IS1003 and who are in need of financial support to attend the PhD training school.

Applications

Applications will be accepted until June 17 2013. These should include

• Contact and institutional details of the applicant

• An outline of the applicant’s PhD project (max. 500 words)

• an abstract of the paper or draft article for the summer school (max. 500 words)

• A request for financial assistance, and explanation of need.

Participants will be selected on the basis of the relevance of their project to the topic of the PhD training school and the research agenda of the COST Action. Successful applicants will be notified by 26 June

For any questions or to submit completed applications, please contact j.c.lawrence@vu.nl