Abstrakt
This chapter discusses a renewed interest in a sociology of constitutions in recent years. This interest has emerged not least due to the significantly changing nature of constitutions and constitutionalism, not in the last place as a result of apparent constitutional qualities inherent in legal regimes beyond state borders.
Subsequently, the chapter paper utilizes a historically and politically informed sociological approach to study European integration as a legal and constitutional project. Such an approach is of much use in bringing out the fragility and tensions of the European project, which in particular in recent times have become highly apparent.
The chapter first briefly introduces a sociological approach to constitutions and constitutionalism in more general terms, and subsequently discusses the multi-faceted process of constitutionalization and judicialization of post-war Europe in a political-sociological fashion. A prominent emphasis is on the depoliticizing and at the same time contested nature of the process.
The final part of the chapter reflects on contemporary issues related to the problematic dimensions of the constitutionalization and judicialization process, including a backlash against universal rights and supranational law in many European societies.