Stefan Leder and Astrid Meier
Orient-Institut Beirut
November, 06 to November 07, 2014
BrochureFull Conference Programme in PDF
The conference is aimed at exploring political concepts and practices which are related to constitutional experiences prior and parallel to the occurrence of written constitutions. Combining political, intellectual, legal and social history across the region, we invite papers on legal and organizational frameworks, administrative bodies, associations, councils, corporative structures, customs, as well as discourses of rule, power and statehood aimed at containing authority. Constitution can in its broadest sense be understood as the internal governmental norms and practices that establish the institution and system of government and define and limit the scope of governmental sovereign powers. Adopting a cross-temporal approach and taking account of diverse historical trajectories, we are interested in exploring the extent to which social practices of power sharing, especially when legally framed, as well as Islamic and other conceptual systems or habitual institutions provide a context that is akin to constitutional thought.
Thursday, November 6-2014
10.00 – 10.15 | Stefan Leder Welcome and Introduction |
10.30-13.00 | The Emergence of Modern Constitutions and Their Contexts Chair: Nadine Méouchy
Zülâl Muslu (Ouest Nanterre La Défense University, Paris / Max-Planck-Institute for European Legal History, Frankfurt) The fundamental law of 1876: The constitution of the Ottoman changing sovereignty
Coffee break
Nora Lafi (Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin) Constitutional debates in their context in late Ottoman Tunis (1857-1881): Reinterpreting the roots and development of political modernity
Michelle Brunelli (Bergamo State University) The ideological roots of the constitutional revolution in Persia. Different souls for one goal
Lunch |
14.00-17:30 | Containing Authority: Norms and Frameworks of Legal Thought Chair: Martha Mundy
Bettina Dennerlein (University of Zurich) Negotiating political authority. Contention and compliance in pre-colonial Morocco
Ismail Warscheid (German Historical Institute, Paris / Institut des mondes africains (CNRS), Paris) The ğamāʿa and its jurists: Islamic legal thought and community structures in pre-modern Saharan societies (1600-1800)
Coffee Break
Malek Sharif (Beirut/Münster) Debates and deliberations of Ottoman Syrians during the first constitutional period
Hassan Hallak (Beirut Arab University) The Ottoman constitutional process, interior and exterior instigations Lecture in Arabic, translation provided |
Friday, November 7-2014
9.30-13.30 | Legal Practice and Discourse in the Vicinity and Wake of Constitutions Chair: Astrid Meier (Orient-Institut Beirut)
Will Hanley (Florida State University, Tallahassee) Sharing hegemony: Constitutional pluralism in practice in late nineteenth century Egypt
Ghina Mourad (Université Libanaise) Local authorities and institutions and their transformation in constitutional law Lecture in Arabic, translation provided
Baṣak Tuǧ (Istanbul Bilgi University) Constitutional experiences in Ottoman legal practice, 18th & 19th centuries
Coffee Break
Huseyin Yilmaz (George Mason University, Fairfax) From Kanun-i Kadim to Kanun-i Esasi: Law and constitutionalism in late Ottoman
Farouq Hoblos (Université Libanaise) The Tripoli Sharia Court in the context of political administration and juridical institutions Lecture in Arabic, translation provided
Lunch |
14.30 -17:00 | Legal and Ideological Dimensions of Constitutional Processes Chair: Stefan Leder (Orient-Institut Beirut / Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg)
Elizabeth F. Thompson (University of Virginia, Charlottesville) Rashid Rida & the 1920 Syrian Constitution: The last stand of Islamic liberalism
Maaike Voorhoeve (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) The first constitution of the Arab world: The Tunisian Qanun al-dawla between fact and fiction?
Coffee Break
Hafidha Chekir (Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates, Tunis) L’histoire constitutionnelle de la Tunisie: une histoire singulière marquée par des réformes modernes et des contestations sociales |
17.00 – 17.15 | Stefan Leder Conclusion |