Call for Chapters: Cambridge Handbook on Unwritten Constitutionalism

Unwritten rules, norms and principles are a feature of constitutional orders around the world, including those governed by highly codified constitutions. They encompass foundational constitutional principles such as the rule of law and separation of powers, constitutional conventions regulating the conduct of political actors, and a wider range of informal norms and practices that shape constitutional government. The Cambridge Handbook on Unwritten Constitutionalism will scrutinise the complex issues highlighted by unwritten constitutionalism as a field of study and investigate them from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. The Handbook will also expand the terrain of the study by exploring the intersection of unwrittenness and perceptions of the value of the written word, as well as the role of unwrittenness in Indigenous legal traditions and transformative constitutionalism.  

A small number of chapters will be filled through an open call for papers. Proposals are welcomed from scholars in various disciplines, including law, political science, history, sociology, anthropology, and Indigenous studies. We are particularly interested in proposals on Indigenous constitutionalisms; the relationship between written and oral legal traditions; writing as a (de)colonial practice; methodological problems involved in describing traditions as “written” or “unwritten”; and the role of writing the unwritten in the preservation of language. We particularly welcome contributions from scholars in the Global South and contributions with a focus on jurisdictions in Central and South America.

Workshops for the Handbook will take place in April and September 2027, bringing together accepted contributors and giving them a chance to present their chapters and receive feedback. Draft chapters will be due prior to the workshops.

Proposals should be up to 250 words in length and sent to unwritten-constitutionalism.rewi@hu-berlin.de by 30 October 2026. Decisions about accepted proposals will be communicated in November 2026. 

Vanessa MacDonnell, Silvia Suteu, Se-shauna Wheatle and Thomas Wischmeyer (Editors)