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Piecing together the fragments of Iceland’s old-new constitution with Eileen Jerrett’s ‘Blueberry Soup’
Iceland has recently embarked on an experimental form of constitution-making from below. Iceland is in this a rare – in distinct ways probably unique - example of a popular or citizen-driven constitutionalism. This participatory approach in many ways challenges core assumptions of mainstream, modernist understandings of constitutionalism, such as the idea of constitutionalism as a social phenomenon and practice dominated by legal professionals or that of constitutions as higher laws that are near to impossible to change. At the same time, the Icelandic experience brings to the fore many questions that popular or democratic constitutionalism raises as an alternative understanding and practice of constitutionalism, not least related to the modes and effectiveness of participation, the notion of representation in the constitution-making process, the role of deliberation, as well as the actual, substantive results of participatory constitution-making.
Appearing in: Kalman Pocza (ed.), Verfassunggebung in konsolidierten Demokratien: Neubeginn oder Verfall eines Systems?, Nomos Verlag.
The Constitutional Experiment in IcelandSince the deep economic crisis of 2008, Iceland has seen the emergence of a remarkable, experimental attempt at constitution-making from below. This Icelandic experiment constitutes a rare –- in distinct ways probably unique -- example of a popular or citizen-driven constitutionalism. The Icelandic participatory approach in many ways challenges core assumptions of mainstream, modernist understandings of constitutionalism, such as the idea of constitutionalism as a social phenomenon and practice dominated by legal professionals or that of constitutions as higher laws that are near to impossible to change. At the same time, in particular now that the constitution-making process seems halted, the Icelandic experience brings to the fore many questions that popular or democratic constitutionalism raises as an alternative understanding and practice of constitutionalism, not least related to the modes and effectiveness of participation, the notion of representation in the constitution-making process, the role of deliberation, the role of parliament and other political institutions, as well as the actual, substantive results of participatory constitution-making. In the chapter, we will first discuss the historical background of the 1944 Icelandic Constitution that is still in vigour. In a second step, the grassroots constitution-making process that emerged in 2009, and the reactions it provoked, are analyzed, while in a third step, we assess recent political events that conditioned the status of the constitution-making project -– now largely stalled in Icelandic parliament -- in the first half of 2013.
On October 20th 2012 two thirds of the Icelandic voters accepted the new ‘crowdsourced’, ‘post-revolutionary’ constitution in advisory referendum – sending it to Parliament for discussion and eventual ratification. Ever since gaining independence in 1944 constitutional revision has been on the agenda. Our constitution is still mostly based on the Danish nineteenth century version as our politicians have never been able to agree on a new one. Pressured by the angry public, Parliament hesitantly agreed to call for a special external nationally elected Constitutional Assembly/Council which has delivered a bill for a completely revised constitution. Initially this was seen as a healing process but gradually this too has been politicized, falling into traditional trenches of Icelandic party politics. In this paper I will explain the troubled process of reconstituting Iceland after the Crash and analyse how that relates to the resurrection of Iceland’s economy and political identity.
This talk discusses the new Icelandic draft constitution handed to Alþingi by the Constitutional Council in July 2011 and attempts to place it in both Icelandic constitutional history and the reaction to the financial crises. The draft constitution is available in Icelandic on the web. A warning note to readers: This is not a fully annotated article - this is a talk!
2006 •
Conflict and Society
"Where Is the New Constitution?" Public Protest and Community-Building in Post-Economic Collapse Iceland2020 •
Following mass demonstrations in response to the country's 2008 economic collapse, a dynamic civil society has emerged in Iceland focused on democratic reform through rewriting the constitution. Th is article demonstrates how, in the absence of the new constitution that was promised by the government, protesters are pursuing an unfinished project of reform by holding small, routinized protests founded on an ethic of empathic solidarity (samkennd). By exploring the aesthetic elements of these meetings, I argue that the protest site is being used to highlight and condemn ongoing government transgression while also providing a space to prefigure a future free of political corruption. To this end, explicit signage is shown to be reshaping political discourse while also extending (and denying) kin bonds between protesters.
Reaktion Books / University of Chicago Press
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