Constitutionalism and Sustainable Economic Development

Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) Young Scholars Workshop at The 2022 Annual Conference of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers (ANCL) Conference, University of Namibia, Windhoek. August 24 – 26, 2022

Working Groups: (a) Africa, (b) Cooperatives and (c) Finance, Law & Economics.

Constitutions are the foundation and the apex of all legal frameworks in countries that subscribe to constitutional democracy. Laws and actions that do not conform to the constitution in such countries are ordinarily categorised as unconstitutional and often declared by the courts as null and void due to their inconsistency with the constitution's provisions. Thus, economic and socio-political endeavours are measured against the precepts of the constitution to arrive at their validity. Invariably, the capacity of states towards the actualisation of sustainable development is embedded in the strength of their constitution. In view of this, economists and other development practitioners have continued to appraise the interplay of the various economic variables and how they turn out in the face of the legal and quasi-legal frameworks. Furthermore, cooperatives' contributions to economic development cannot be overemphasized, they have played an enormous role in sustainability in most countries worldwide. However, these giant strides are more prevalent in the global-north. Cooperatives have struggled in many countries of the global-south, where they serve mostly as palliative agents in the implementation of sustainable development.

The identified anomaly is dissected from the economic, socio-political, legal and geographical perspectives to arrive at the following:
Constitutionalism from the lenses of different models of economics; cooperatives as a development mechanism from the lenses of legal and quasi-legal frameworks; revolutionary economics as a mechanism for the disadvantaged classes; the global-south, particularly Africa, as a template for the studies of the disadvantaged classes. Therefore, the challenges confronting the disadvantaged classes is explored across the globe from the lenses of models of economics particularly the less conventional variants such as the cooperatives, and the legal and quasi-legal frameworks. This is proposed from the lenses of economic sustainability and constitutionalism. Given the foregoing, a young scholars workshop entitled "How Can Constitutionalism Be Harnessed for Sustainable Economic Development" is proposed by the YSI to run as a complementary programme at the ANCL 2022 annual conference with the theme: Constitutionalism and Sustainable Economic Development in Africa.

Theoretically, the ANCL annual conferences have focused on constitutional and general developmental questions in Africa. In practice, it has afforded the opportunities for the presentation of works and thoughts on constitutionalism and development across the divides that the global-north and global-south represent. Hence the conference discusses constitutionalism and sustainable development from global perspectives. It accommodates works on the challenges posed to constitutionalism and sustainable development from the standpoint of Africa's disadvantaged classes or sectors, irrespective of geographical location or ideological lining. The workshop is proposed to focus on the following critical areas which are drawn from the conference call for papers. Constitutionalism and sustainable development in Africa and the global-south. The place of cooperatives and their governing laws in the rethinking of sustainable development

OBJECTIVES
The following are the objective of the workshop:
To bring together young scholars with research focused on the interplay of the variables of economics, law, cooperatives, disadvantaged classes, etc. and how these variables intersect with constitutionalism and sustainability.
To facilitate the exchange of ideas that will support the capacity development of young scholars.
To develop strategies that support the better intersection of constitutionalism and sustainable economic development.
To promote the YSI in Namibia, particularly at the University of Namibia at Windhoek, and seek possible collaborations between the YSI and the conference organisers.

PARTICIPANTS
Prospective workshop participants are expected to submit an abstract (maximum of 300 words) of their paper to: fle@youngscholarsinitiative.org, africa@youngscholarsinitiative.org, coop@youngscholarsinitiative.org by 30th of May 2022. (please code name your file ANCLNAMIBIAWORKSHOP)

Accommodation and travel support will be offered to a limited number of registered members of the YSI.