Abstract

Globalization has brought about a resurgence of the sociological study of constitutions. This article engages with this renaissance in a critical way. First, it pinpoints the antecedents of a sociological approach to constitutions, with a focus on the work of Niklas Luh mann. Second, it analyses two of the most important contemporary contributions to the sociology of constitutions, that is, those of Gunther Teubner and Chris Thornhill. Finally, it acknowledges the importance of a sociological understanding of constitutions, but offers two arguments for abandoning functionalism and taking up a more material approach.