Societal Constitutionalism: Deconstruction of State-Centrism and Construction of a Constitutional Theory for the Digital Age

This chapter outlines the close but conflicted relationship between societal constitutionalism and digital constitutionalism. The main argument is that societal constitutionalism provides a perspective which complements state-centred and global perspectives on digital constitutionalism, notably when it comes to the constitutionalizing potential of norms that do not come from the formal law-making institutions centred on national and international politics. The first section outlines the critique of societal constitutionalism to liberal, state-centred constitutional theory, pointing at long-standing blind spots and broadening the normative goals of (digital) constitutionalism. The second section analyses the constructive contributions of societal constitutionalism to digital constitutionalism, through three key concepts of polycontexturality, conflict, and generalization/respecification. The third section of the chapter points to the persisting differences between the societal perspectives and other perspectives on digital constitutionalism as well as to the connections with other strands of literature concerned with the interface between law and digital technologies, notably so-called law and political economy.