Southern Lessons for Constitutional Law

For decades, comparative constitutional law has concentrated primarily on ideas, concepts, and institutions originating in the Global North. By contrast, this volume places the Global South at the center of attention, highlighting its specific contributions to the international debate on constitutional law. The contributors investigate how Southern perspectives shape constitutional thought and expand the methodological horizon of comparative scholarship. In the first part, Philipp Dann (Germany), Konrad Lachmayer (Austria), Pablo Riberi (South America), and Surya Deva (Asia) present cross-regional perspectives ("regards croisés") on the lessons to be learned from the South. The second part turns to case studies: Selin Esen analyzes the implications of Southern experiences for the rule of law, while David Bilchitz examines socio-economic rights across the North-South divide. The volume brings together all public law contributions presented at the 39th Congress of the Society of Comparative Law, held in Berlin in September 2024. Collectively, the papers demonstrate the transformative potential of constitutional thought from the Global South and its significance for a critical, transnational discourse on constitutional law.