Regional and Constitutional Structures in Tension

April 4 – 5, 2016 / Geneva, Switzerland

On April 4-5, 2016, the Global Studies Institute of the University of Geneva hosted the Workshop “Regional and Constitutional Structures in Tension.”

The aim of the workshop was to interrogate possible tensions and interactions between regional organizations and constitutional law. Particular attention was paid to the increased prominence of constitutional language at the regional level. The project intended to unravel the power dimensions behind the dynamics of such constitutional discourses, including asking questions about its productive and representational qualities. The key point of discussion was the extent to which constitutional frameworks of regional organizations in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Eurasia reflect the existing power dimensions in the region.

The Workshop in Geneva will be a start of a longer-term research project in the domain of comparative constitutional regionalism.

 The participants of the Workshop include:

• François Venter– Professor at North-West University, South Africa
• Hsien-Li Tan – Assistant Professor at  National University of Singapore, Singapore
• Kennedy Gastorn – Associate Professor at University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Amaya Alvez Marin – Assistant Professor at University de Concepción, Chile
• Marcelo Dalmas Torelly – PhD candidate at University of Brasilia, Brazil
• Maksim Karliuk – Research Fellow at Moscow Higher School of Economics – Skolkovo Institute for Law and Development, Russia
• Cristina Godoy Bernardo de Oliveira – Professor at University of São Paulo, Brazil
• Kalkidan Obse – Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
• Christopher May – Professor at Lancaster University, United Kingdom
• Anne Hoffman – PhD candidate at German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Germany
• Detlef Nolte – Professor at German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Germany
• Anja Jetschke – Professor at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
• Phillippe De Lombarde – Associate Professor at Neoma Business School, France / Associate Research Fellow at United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Belgium
• Liliana Lizarazo Rodríguez – Academic Collaborator at University of Antwerp, Belgium
• Solomon Ebobrah – Postdoc at iCourts, University of Copenhagen, Denmark / Professor art Niger Delta University, Nigeria
• Salvatore Caserta– Postdoc at iCourts, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
• Nicolas Levrat – Professor at Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva, Switzerland
• Sandra Lavenex – Professor at Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Organizing Committee:

• Micha Wiebusch – PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London, United Kingdom / Research Fellow, Faculty of Law and Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB), University of Antwerp, Belgium / Associate Research Fellow, United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU – CRIS), Belgium

• Pola Cebulak – Postdoc at iCourts, University of Copenhagen, Denmark / Visiting Scholar at University of Geneva, Switzerland

The co-organizing institutions included:

• Swiss National Science Foundation
  
• Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva
• iCourts – The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre, Law Faculty, University of Copenhagen
• United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU – CRIS)
• German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
• Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• The Institute for Global Law and Policy (IGLP), Harvard Law School