Constitutionalism “of” the Global South? Epistemological reflections on emerging constitutional trends

Abstract

Taking into consideration the recent studies on the “constitutionalism of the global south”, the aim of this article is to critically analyze the applicability of the mentioned concept, highlighting the potentialities and inadequacies of its theoretical construction. The hypothesis states that notwithstanding the relative frailties on the concept of “global south”, it is possible to conceive the emergency of a “constitutionalism of the global south”, grounded on singular innovative experiences of several “southern” countries, which are relevant contributions for the common heritage of democratic constitutionalism. The article, an outcome of researches carried out between Brazil and Italy, with the use of hypothetical-deductive method, is methodologically grounded in the field of constitutional theory, with some elements of comparative constitutional law, and is divided in three topics: I. Defining constitutionalism: concept and evolutions; II. Constitutionalism, the global north and the south; III. Constitutionalism of the global south: a critical analysis. As results, the hypothesis has been partially confirmed, as it has been evidenced the inadequacy of the concept “constitutionalism of the global south”, for its vagueness and ambiguous delimitation. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to comprehend the constitutionalism of the global south as a “constitutionalism from the global south”, as an attempt to emphasize the diversity on global south constitutionalisms and, through this, increase the analytical perspective of contemporary constitutionalism complexity. Thus, in a “multicentered approach”, constitutional theory fits a more adequate position to analyze constitutional innovations, considering that center and periphery are conditional concepts, especially when referring to contemporary constitutionalism.