The Palimpsest Constitution

The Social Life of Constitutions in Myanmar

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

AvMelissa Crouch,University of New South Wales) Crouch, Prof Melissa (Professor, Professor

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Since the mid-20th century, many postcolonial states have engaged in multiple constitution-making exercises, with the turnover in written constitutions often due to coups or internal conflict. Conversely, people have resisted authoritarian rule through alternative constitution-making. The reality that most countries have had numerous official and unofficial constitutional texts begs the question: How do past constitutions matter in the present?This volume explores the social life of constitutional legacies, or how past constitutions matter. Using the case of Myanmar, Professor Crouch demonstrates that constitutions are a palimpsest of past texts, ideas, and practices, an accumulation of contested legacies. Through constitutional ethnography, it traces Burma/Myanmar's modern constitutional history from the late colonial era through its postcolonial, socialist, and military regimes.The Palimpsest Constitution captures the idea that contemporary debates about constitutional reform are informed by the contested legacies of the past. In Myanmar, the military insists on the endurance of its 2008 Constitution while pro-civilian actors resist military rule through alternative constitution-making endeavours. Offering a sociological view of constitutional endurance, the book demonstrates how the social life of constitutions is central to the struggle for constitutional democracy and civilian rule in Myanmar.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-10-23
Mått160 x 270 x 20 mm
Vikt717 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieOxford Studies in Asian Laws
Antal sidor336
FörlagOUP OXFORD
ISBN9780198956884

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1: IntroductionPart I. The Palimpsest Constitution under Colonial Rule2: Laying the Foundations of Constitutional Legacies: War, Occupation, and Law3: Resisting the Legacies of Imposed Constitution-making: Codification, Martial Law, and Executive SafeguardsPart II. The Palimpsest Constitution in the Post-colony4: Subverting Colonial Constitutional Legacies: Independence, Social Democracy, and a Coup5: Contesting the Postcolonial Constitution: Religion, Federalism, and Anti-constitutional Crimes6: Rejecting the Postcolonial Constitution: Socialist Legality, the Party, and People's Duties7: Scripting New Constitutional Legacies: Military Constitution-makers, Resistance, and ReformPart III. The Palimpsest Constitution between the Military and the Courts8: Coopting the Legacy of the Writs: The Supreme Court, Rights, and Judicial Independence9: Repurposing Legacies of Judicial Review: The Constitutional Tribunal, the Military, and the Coup10: ConclusionAppendix 1: Constitutional EthnographyAppendix 2: List of Characters

In this persuasive and timely assessment of the fragility and endurance of constitutions, Crouch writes with clarity and passion about the social life of constitutions in Burma/Myanmar. Her sweeping history exposes the continuities of power and violence across colonial, democratic, and authoritarian regimes, successfully placing the Global South at the center of broad debates about constitutional politics.