Michal Stambulski

The Poverty of Militant Doctrinal Constitutionalism in the European Union

would it not ‘be simpler for the government to dissolve the people and elect another?’ (…) one might similarly ask ‘would it not be better if law professors dissolved the Union and created another one?’”

verfassungsblog.de/the-poverty-...

The title brought to mind an intervention Karol Muszyński and I made some time ago:

“Bertolt Brecht published a poem in which he ironised the communist party discontent with the attitude of German workers. The poet wrote that instead of trying to get back the support of the people

Just spotted a new book with the marvelous this title. My God, what a wonderful, self-exposing choice. With friends like these, the EU’s rule of law hardly needs enemies.

Introduction to the Symposium on Protest and Legal Mobilization [Jeff Handmaker is an Associate Professor of legal sociology at Erasmus University. Mikel Díez Sarasola is an Assistant Lecturer of constitutional law at the University of the Basque Country. Sanne…

🚨 New on @opiniojuris.bsky.social ! Please share. 🚨

Our Protest and Legal Mobilization symposium is live

We kick off with the editors’ introduction, launching a global conversation on protest and law.

👉 Read the opening post:

opiniojuris.org/2025/09/22/i...

New Book on Political Aesthetics!

Do populists and liberal democrats live differently—through clothes, food, or reading habits?
Can aesthetic choices shape how people engage in politics?

👉The intro to the book:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

👉The book:
brill.com/display/titl...

Thrilled to share my new article in the @euconst.bsky.social: "EU Mediation in Spain’s Judicial Council Crisis: Refining Dialogic Rule of Law within a Multilevel Constitutional Order" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

My short analysis of the situation of Polish judges in the post-populist context from BetrifftJUSTIZ magazine is now available as a pre-print (in German)

"Schrödingers Richter - Herausforderungen der Rekonstruktion des Rechtsstaats in Polen"

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Human Rights and the Visual: Screening of ‘No Other Land’ “Human Rights and the Visual” is a new series of screenings and events aimed at investigating how human rights are perceived and experienced on the ground by...

Next week at Erasmus School of Law, a screening of "No Other Land", an Oscar-winning documentary that captures life in the occupied West Bank. It's part of the "Human Rights and the Visual" series, which explores how HR are presented through visual arts.

www.eur.nl/en/esl/event...

An urgent debate at Pakuis de Zwijger on populist lawfare in the US and EU today, building support structures for civil disobedience and doomscrolling with @sldelange.bsky.social, @karolinakocemba.bsky.social, @mstambulski.bsky.social and Scott Cummings

Just finished co-teaching Global Justice & Transnational Legal Mobilization at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati with @mstambulski.bsky.social 📚 Truly enjoyed the experience with an incredible group of ambitious, engaged, and passionate students💡💬

Coming soon in Amsterdam: A discussion on right-wing legal mobilization with leading experts. Details below! 👇

Excited to share the preprint of a new paper with Jakub Szumski on liberal pedagogy and Poland’s constitutional transformation (1989–1997). This collab. between history & legal theory explores tensions between continuity & rupture in post-socialist const. history.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

📢 Excited to share that my and @mstambulski.bsky.social latest article "Populism, Non-State Actors, and Right-Wing Legal Mobilization in Europe," has been published in the International Journal of Law in Context and is now freely available to everyone www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I was today years old when I learned that Giorgio Agamben played an apostle in Pier Paolo Pasolini's movie and the world is somehow better now.

My few thoughts on the Polish rule of law restoration.

“It seems that the sovereign, when it comes to the rule of law, is the one who determines who is a judge.”

This dynamic has the potential to influence European and global legal culture more profoundly in the times to come. What kind of political mobilization it will facilitate and what lasting social change will be associated with it is yet to be seen.

The extent of such transformation is gradual: from slight asymmetry to making impactful opposition practically impossible. In the extreme end, the very idea of agency and influence behind legal procedures disappears.

European populism in power transforms the rules of the legal mobilization game. It maximizes possibilities of selected right-wing actors and reduces the structures of opportunities for counter-mobilization.

By right-wing legal mobilization, we understand the organized efforts, resources, and strategies employed by individuals, groups, or organizations with conservative or right-leaning ideologies to embody their values in positive law and its interpretation.

🔥 It's out! 🔥
Special Issue 'Populism and Right-Wing Legal Mobilization in Europe'

The vol. is a collection of seven papers from excellent scholars from Italy, France, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and the US that map right-wing legal mobilization in Europe.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Seminar on 'Law and Ideology in Housing' Seminar on the ideological factors influencing laws concerning housing, construction, and spatial planning in Poland during the socialist period.

Next week in Rotterdam!

Dr. Piotr Echardt will be discussing his newly published book ‚Socialism under Construction: Law and Ideology in Housing, Construction and Spatial Planning in Poland 1944-1989’ (Scholar 2024).

www.eur.nl/en/esl/event...