Realist perspectives on global constitutionalism

Understandings of the label ‘realism; vary across disciplines - although most often it entails a relational concept, in that realism is taken to be the antithesis of idealism, utopianism, formalism, positivism, legalism or similar modes of thinking that are deemed to be too far removed from practical ‘realities’. Distinguishing in particular between ‘legal’ and ‘political’ realism, and with a focus on the international sphere, this chapter offers a series of reflections on what it might mean to adopt a realist perspective on global constitutionalism. It traces the legal realist premises on which much of the debate around the ‘constitutionalization’ of international normative frameworks arguably rests, before identifying a number of political realist strands in the global constitutionalism literature. Ultimately, the argumentative resort to realism illustrates the interminable oscillation between normative abstraction and sociological description that lies at the heart of any and all attempts to conceive of international relations in constitutional terms.