ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

Professor Michael Wilkinson

Professor Michael Wilkinson

Professor of Law

ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law School

Telephone
020-7955-6608
Room No
Cheng Kin Ku Building 6.31
Languages
English
Key Expertise
Law

About me

Mike Wilkinson, Professor of Law at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, studied at University College London, the College of Europe, Bruges, and completed a PhD at the European University Institute, Florence. Prior to taking up his post at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 2007, Mike was lecturer at Manchester University, EU-US Fulbright Research Fellow at Columbia and NYU and was called to the Bar (Lincoln’s Inn) in 2000. He has also taught at Cornell University as adjunct professor of law and been a visiting professor at Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Keio University Tokyo.

Administrative support: Law.Reception@lse.ac.uk

Research interests

  • European Integration
  • Constitutional Theory
  • Legal, Political and Social Theory

Books

The Cambridge Handbook on the Material Constitution (Cambridge University Press, 2023) (ed. with Macro Goldoni)

Despite a long and venerable tradition, the material constitution almost disappeared from constitutional scholarship after the Second World War. Its marginalisation saw the rise of a normative and legalistic style in constitutional law that neglected the role of social reality and political economy. This collection not only retrieves the history and development of the concept of the material constitution, but it tests its theoretical and practical relevance in the contemporary world. With essays from a diverse range of contributors, the collection demonstrates that the material constitution speaks to several pressing issues, from the significance of economic development in constitutional orders to questions of constitutional identity. Offering original analyses supported by international case studies, this book develops a new model of constitutional reality, one that informs our understanding of the world in profound ways.

 


 

Authoritarian Liberalism and the Transformation of Modern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2021)

This book recounts the transformation of Europe from the interwar era until the euro crisis, using the tools of constitutional analysis and critical theory. Interwar liberalism, rocked by mass politics and social inequality, actively turns to authoritarianism in an attempt to suppress democracy, with disastrous consequences in Weimar and beyond. After the Second World War, economic liberalism is restored through a passive authoritarianism: inter-state sovereignty is restrained, state-society relations are depoliticised, and class struggle subdued. This transformation takes time to unfold and it presents continuities as well as discontinuities. It is deepened by the neoliberalism of the Maastricht era and yet counter-movements then also emerge, which are more actively repressed through the authoritarian liberalism of the euro crisis phase. This leads now to an impasse. If the postwar order of authoritarian liberalism has reached its limits, there is yet to be any definitive rupture.

 


 

Questioning the Foundations of Public Law (Hart Publishing, 2018)

In 2010, Martin Loughlin, Professor of Public Law at the ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, published Foundations of Public Law, 'an account of the foundation of the discipline of public law with a view to identifying its essential character'. The book has become a landmark in the field, and it has been said, notably by one of its major critics, that it now provides the 'starting point' for any deeper inquiry into the subject. The purpose of this volume is to engage critically with Foundations – conceptually, comparatively and historically – from the viewpoints of public law, private law, political, social and legal theory, as well as jurisdictional perspectives including the UK, US, India, and Continental Europe. Scholars also consider the legacy and continuing relevance of Foundations in the light of developments in transnational law, global law and regional integration in the European Union.

 


 

Constitutionalism beyond Liberalism (Cambridge University Press, 2017) (ed. with Michael W. Dowdle) 

Constitutionalism Beyond Liberalism bridges the gap between comparative constitutional law and constitutional theory. The volume uses the constitutional experience of countries in the global South - China, India, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Malaysia - to transcend the liberal conceptions of constitutionalism that currently dominate contemporary comparative constitutional discourse. The alternative conceptions examined include political constitutionalism, societal constitutionalism, state-based (Rousseau-ian) conceptions of constitutionalism, and geopolitical conceptions of constitutionalism. Through these examinations, the volume seeks to expand our appreciation of the human possibilities of constitutionalism, exploring constitutionalism not merely as a restriction on the powers of government, but also as a creating collective political and social possibilities in diverse geographical and historical settings.

 

Articles

  •  The American Journal of Jurisprudence (2024) 69 (1) June 2024, 89–106
  •  (2024) Jurisprudence 1–23
  •  ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Legal Studies Working Paper 6/2024
  •  (2023) 50 (1) Journal of Law and Society 115-139
  • 'On the New German Ideology' in Jan Komárek, ed.,  (OUP 2023) 281-295
  • (2021) 2-3 Rechtstheorie 239-249
  •  in Marco Dani, Marco Goldoni, and Agustín J. Menéndez (eds.), The Legitimacy of European Constitutional Orders: A Comparative Inquiry (Edward Elgar, 2023), pp. 64-92
  • European Law Open,1(1), 191-208
  •  by Marco Goldoni and Michael Wilkinson, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law School Working Paper Series 2/2022
  •  in Grégoire and Xavier (eds.), The Idea of Economic Constitution in Europe: Genealogy and Overview (Brill, 2022) pp.458-486 (with Hjalte Lokdam)
  • 'It’s the political economy..! A moment of truth for the eurozone and the EU.' International Journal of Constitutional Law (2021) 19 (1) (with Marco Dani, Edoardo Chiti, Joana Mendes, Agustín José Menéndez, Harm Schepel)
  • 'Second Time as Farce? Authoritarian Liberalism in Historical Perspective' in J. Rayner, S. Falls, G. Souvlis, T.C. Nelms (eds.)  (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020) pp.133-154
  • Modern Law Review (2020) (with Alexander Somek) [online first]
  •  (2019) Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies pp.1-18
  • Critical Sociology (2019) 45 Iss.7/8 pp.1023-34
  •   in G. Frankenberg and H. Alviar (eds) Authoritarian Constitutionalism (2019, Edward Elgar) 
  •  (with Hjalte Lokdam) to be published in M. Sellers and S. Kirste (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (Springer, 2021) [forthcoming]
  •   in E. Nanopoulos and F. Vergis (eds) The Crisis Behind the Crisis: The European Crisis as a Multi-Dimensional Systemic Failure of the EU (Cambridge University Press, 2019); translated (Turkish)  (November 2019)
  • 'The Material Constitution', Modern Law Review (2018) 81 (4) pp.567-597;  working paper Law, Society and Economy Working Paper Series 20-2016 (2016) (with Marco Goldoni); translated (Portuguese) Revista da Faculdade de Direito UFPR (2018) 63 (3); (Italian) (18 March 2020); (Spanish)  (2020)
  • 'Questioning the Foundations of Public Law and Questioning Foundations of Public Law' ch. 1 pp 3-14 in M. Wilkinson and M. Dowdle (eds.)  (Hart Publishing, 2018)
  •   ch. 12 pp 181 – 205 in M. Wilkinson and M. Dowdle (eds.) (Hart Publishing, 2018)
  • European Law Journal (2017) 23 (3-4) pp.213–233 (ARENA Working Paper 7/2017)
  • , in ‘Foundations of Public Law’, a special issue of Jus Politicum: Revue de Droit Politique (July 2016; Wilkinson and Dowdle eds.) (with Michael W. Dowdle)
  • German Law Journal (2016) 17 (Brexit Supplement) pp.131-142
  • ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law Society and Economy Working Paper Series, 05-2016
  • NUS Law Working Paper No. 2015/009 (forthcoming in Michael W. Dowdle and Michael A. Wilkinson, eds., Constitutionalism Beyond Liberalism, Cambridge University Press, 2016) (with Michael W. Dowdle)
  • ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law Policy Briefing Paper 10/2015
  • German Law Journal (2015) 16 (4) pp.1049-1072
  • 'Politicising Europe’s Justice Deficit: Some Preliminaries' in D. Kochenov, G. De Burca and A. Williams (eds) (Hart, 2015)
  • European Law Journal  (2015) 21:3 pp.313-339
  • Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy (2014) 3
  • Law Society and Economy Working Paper Series WPS 26-2014 December 2014
  • ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law: Policy Briefing Papers 6/2014
  • ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law Society and Economy Working Paper Series, 08-2014
  • (2013) German Law Journal  14 (5)
  • (2013) Modern Law Review  76(2), pp.191-222
  •   (2012) 2 Contemporary Pragmatism pp.117-142
  • Review of Under Weber’s Shadow: Modernity, Subjectivity and Politics in Habermas, Arendt and Macintyre by Keith Breen (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2012). ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Review of Books. August 2012
  • in Hannah Arendt and the Law, edited by Marco Goldoni and Christopher McCorkindale (Hart, 2012); working paper published in ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Law Society and Economy Working Paper Series, 05-2011 August 2011
  • Review of Public Law and Politics: The Scope and Limits of Constitutionalism, edited by Emilios Christodoulidis and Stephen Tierney. (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008)' (2010) 16 European Public Law pp. 475–479
  • Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2010) Issue Number 3
  • Wisconsin Law Review (2010) Issue Number 2
  • (2009) 72:4 Modern Law Review 677 - 683
  • (2007) 4 Modern Law Review 680 – 700
  • (2005) Vol. 30 No.2 European Law Review 297 – 314
  • (2003) 9:4 European Law Journal 451 – 472
  • (2002) 3:9 German Law Journal
  • (2002) 1 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 177 – 187

Public engagement

(podcast) 24/4/24

 Jacobin 9/9/23

 Jacobin 5/3/23

 Jacobin 17/8/22

 UCL Europe Blog 17/03/22

 Balkinization 09/03/22

Verfassungsblog 07/10/21

 Just Money  (with Marco Dani, Edoardo Chiti, Joana Mendes, Agustín José Menéndez, Harm Schepel)

VerfBlog, 2020/5/06

 VerfBlog, 2020/5/15 (with Marco Dani; Joana Mendes; Agustín José Menendez;  Harm Schepel; Edoardo Chiti

 ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Brexit Blog 2019/12/16, 

 VerfBlog 2019/9/25

, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Brexit Blog 2019/09/05, 

 VerfBlog 2018/6/07

 ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Brexit Blog 2018/12/04

 LSE Law Policy Briefing Paper 10/2015

Videos

  •  (June 2024, with Professor Vivien Schmidt)
  •  (January 2023)
  •  (November 2022)
  • (May 2022)

 

Teaching