Constitutionalism in Thailand from the Perspective of Social Movements

Social movements between the quest for fundamental rights and a rejection of judicialization of politics

The project examines the process of democratization and the debate surrounding constitutional reform in Thailand in the wake of the political crisis that started in 2006. Departing from earlier analyses in the field of legal studies, which examined the social and political dynamics behind constitutional reform, the project focuses on the notion of legal consciousness and examines the long-term strategic orientation of political actors towards a discourse of rights and towards a specific model of liberal constitutionalism.

The failure of liberal constitutionalism in Thailand can count as one example of a world-wide crisis of democracy. In this sense, the results of the project promise to give an insight into perspectives of future democratization processes beyond the specific case of Thailand.

1 March 2012 - 28 February 2014

funded by the Jubilee Fund of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian National Bank), Project No. 14710