The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Global constitutionalism and/as enlightenment

Global constitutionalism and/as enlightenment
Global constitutionalism and/as enlightenment

This editorial considers how scholars interested in issues of global constitutionalism should approach the questions that have concerned those interested in enlightenment. Reflecting on the relocation of the journal’s editorial offices to Edinburgh, we foreground discussions from the historiography of the long eighteenth century that should be of interest to scholars of international relations, international law and political theory. Two main contributions are emphasized. First, a contextualist and political approach to enlightenment invites us to see global constitutionalism as a strategic response to crisis, aiming to combat fanaticism. Second, a global approach to enlightenment invites us to continue enlarging the world of global constitutionalism. Taken together, the contributions support the journal’s ongoing efforts to decolonize global constitutionalism by enjoining readers and contributors to attend to neglected sides and sites of global constitutional processes.

enlightenment, global constitutionalism, intellectual history, political thought
2045-3817
1-10
Holley, Jared
e230bbb2-46db-4404-b096-eacae0d00fa5
Wiener, Antje
b9e5298f-7bc4-4fef-b57a-8fdf90eb111d
Birdsall, Andrea
d1ee92a4-8561-4fd8-92f9-6311b8062ce5
Law, Stephanie
0778fc4b-cdf4-436e-9fcb-7f2ee2006ca4
Kang, Susan
ee0d0490-66ee-41ef-ba64-61a78a7cf49e
Shaw, Jo
855b3c45-882b-4946-88f1-e21ead8d1d52
Holley, Jared
e230bbb2-46db-4404-b096-eacae0d00fa5
Wiener, Antje
b9e5298f-7bc4-4fef-b57a-8fdf90eb111d
Birdsall, Andrea
d1ee92a4-8561-4fd8-92f9-6311b8062ce5
Law, Stephanie
0778fc4b-cdf4-436e-9fcb-7f2ee2006ca4
Kang, Susan
ee0d0490-66ee-41ef-ba64-61a78a7cf49e
Shaw, Jo
855b3c45-882b-4946-88f1-e21ead8d1d52

Holley, Jared, Wiener, Antje, Birdsall, Andrea, Law, Stephanie, Kang, Susan and Shaw, Jo (2026) Global constitutionalism and/as enlightenment. Global Constitutionalism, 15 (1), 1-10. (doi:10.1017/S2045381726100227).

Record type: Review

Abstract

This editorial considers how scholars interested in issues of global constitutionalism should approach the questions that have concerned those interested in enlightenment. Reflecting on the relocation of the journal’s editorial offices to Edinburgh, we foreground discussions from the historiography of the long eighteenth century that should be of interest to scholars of international relations, international law and political theory. Two main contributions are emphasized. First, a contextualist and political approach to enlightenment invites us to see global constitutionalism as a strategic response to crisis, aiming to combat fanaticism. Second, a global approach to enlightenment invites us to continue enlarging the world of global constitutionalism. Taken together, the contributions support the journal’s ongoing efforts to decolonize global constitutionalism by enjoining readers and contributors to attend to neglected sides and sites of global constitutional processes.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 10 February 2026
Published date: 10 February 2026
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: enlightenment, global constitutionalism, intellectual history, political thought

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 510342
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/510342
ISSN: 2045-3817
PURE UUID: b55c9633-6cf1-448a-8c93-a978e5797dbe
ORCID for Stephanie Law: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2551-7615

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 Mar 2026 18:00
Last modified: 27 Mar 2026 03:00

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Jared Holley
Author: Antje Wiener
Author: Andrea Birdsall
Author: Stephanie Law ORCID iD
Author: Susan Kang
Author: Jo Shaw

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×