ICON S Conference 17 – 19 June 2016 Humboldt University Berlin

Lucía Payero López: Federalism in Multinational
States: An Alternative to Secession? The Case
of Spain
This paper will explore the possibilities of the federal
idea for becoming an attractive alternative to secession
in multinational states. Given that federalism
is a polysemic concept, since many definitions of it
–some of them even conflicting– can be found in the
specialized literature, the context in which federalism
is applied plays a leading role. The present analysis will
be focused on Spain, a plural state where territorial tensions
have been a protracted problem. Therefore, any
federal proposal should be compatible with national
plurality in order to be accepted by peripheral nationalists.
The paper will suggest a federal evolution of the
State of the Autonomies, which, at the same time, may
avoid the disintegration of the state.
Dirk Hanschel: Discussant
Konrad Lachmayer: Comparative Law in Changing
Structures of Multi-Level Federalism
The paper addresses the methodological questions
of how comparative constitutional law can address the
changes of the states. Unitarian states might develop
to federal states (like Nepal). Domestic states integrate
in supra-national forms of federal units (like the
EU). Other states broke apart (like ex-Yugoslavia) and
create left-overs (like Kosovo). From a methodological
perspective, the point of reference (constitutional law)
is changing and has to address in the whole process
of transition from one condition of a state to another.
Constitutional law can be identified along and beyond
state borders. A Neo-Federalist Perspective enables
comparative constitutional law to restructure questions
of statehood and the role of changing borders.
38 EUROPEAN CONSTITUTIONALISM:
A NEW ERA OR THE END OF THE ERA?
The latest mixed migration movements have questioned
the hard core of the so-called European constitutional
order. The foundational perception of liberal
cosmopolitanism, at the same time is under severe critique
of being inadequate and/or even obsolete. Within
this context, the current panel purports to address this
post-ontological phase of European constitutionalism
via a critical analysis of the EU as a self righteous
human rights actor; provide a historiographical anagnosis
of central/eastern Europe’s hostile position; reassess
the nature of EU constitutionalism through the
paradoxical lenses of migration of ideas v. migration
of people and finally explore a daring re-conception
of cosmopolitanism that challenges the mindset of
borders, territoriality and recognition of rights.
Participants Maria Varaki
Daniel H. Augenstein
Matej Avbelj
Jernej Letnar Černič
Name of Chair Mark Dawson
Room BE2 E44/46
Maria Varaki: Re-reading 1943 Hannah Arendt
for a “new” cosmopolitan order in 2016
The latest mixed migration movements have triggered
an unprecedented challenge of the European
Union project as whole. The fundamental idea of a cosmopolitan
liberal order is under severe contestation
by populist and nationalist voices in some European
countries, whereas in other moderate advocates unsuccessfully
balance between security and humanitarian
concerns. Within this context, the traditional
Kantian right to hospitality will be examined towards
the right to have rights, as supported by Hannah Arendt.
The question to be addressed is whether the
proposed legal and policy measures to be undertaken
not only contradict the foundational understanding
of the European constitutional order but additionally
unveil the need for a revolutionary re-conception of
cosmopolitanism.
Daniel H. Augenstein: Parochial Cosmopolitanism:
The European Union as a Global Human
Rights Actor in the European Refugee “Crisis”
The paper discusses some of the ways in which the
EU manages the transnational economic and political
interdependencies involved in Europe’s so-called
refugee crisis. This serves as a background for scrutinizing
the EU’s (self-) perception as a global human
rights actor.
Concurring panels 70