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Federation is not only about function : where a neo-federalist plan for global constitutionalism falls short
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Kuo, Ming-Sung (2014) Federation is not only about function : where a neo-federalist plan for global constitutionalism falls short. Melborne Journal of International Law, 15 (1). pp. 271-289.
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Official URL: http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/mjil
Abstract
This essay engages with Jean Cohen’s magnum opus Globalization and Sovereignty: Rethinking
Legality, Legitimacy, and Constitutionalism by focusing on her global neo-federalist plan. It is
suggested that Cohen stands out in the debate surrounding global constitutionalism with her
post-statist, function-oriented notion of federation as the political form for the globalising world
order. Yet, when it comes to legality, Cohen returns to the theme of liberal legalism. I make a
twofold criticism of Cohen’s constitutional prognosis. First, I argue that echoing past reform
movements in international law, Cohen focuses on a rule-oriented, judge-centred conception of
legality. As a result, she gives short shrift to the political nature of the existing United
Nations-centred international legal order in which a state of exception (or emergency) still sits
alongside a seemingly permanent state of legal normalcy. Second, Cohen fails to reckon that a
federal union of security and peace is not only about function. While her neo-federalist plan may
well apply to other governance issues, it fails to do justice to the role of the UN Security Council
(‘UNSC’) in global peace and security, thereby undermining her plan to rein in the UNSC as the
stepping stone to a constitutionalised world order
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Melborne Journal of International Law | ||||
Publisher: | Melbourne Law School | ||||
Official Date: | 2014 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 15 | ||||
Number: | 1 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 271-289 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Description: | Review essay |
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