The death of the contemporary forms of social order ought to gladden rather than trouble the soul.
Yet, what is frightening is that the departing world leaves behind it, not an heir, but a pregnant widow. Between the death of the one and the birth of the other, much water will flow by, a long night of chaos and desolation will pass.
Alexander Herzen
The people made the Constitution, and the people can unmake it. It is the creature of their will, and lives only by their will.
John Marshall
The chapters in this edited volume are a result of a two-year collaborative process that began with a symposium entitled Founding Moments in Constitutionalism held at Yale Law School in April 2016. The conference brought together scholars from around the world with the objective of understanding the relationship between ‘founding moments' - landmark events that break ties with the ancien regime and lay the foundations for the establishment of modern states - and the constitutional order. The symposium produced insightful and unique perspectives on founding moments in constitutionalism, often with fascinating singular examples from around the world, that broadened our understanding of what founding moments are and how they impact our understanding of constitutional regimes.
From Ming-Sung Kuo's opening chapter on the role of narrative, Yair Sagy's insight on Israel’s delayed constitutional order to Noga Efrati's exploration of the gendered perspective of founding moments in Iraq, the chapters in this volume shed light on the different casual mechanisms in which founding moments impact - or sometimes fail to impact - constitutionalism and the narratives of various agents (founding fathers, judges, historians and citizens) that are influential in constitutionalising founding moments. While this volume has produced myriad themes worth analysing, these concluding pages will focus on providing an overview of the book. In addition, the following pages will highlight some of the broader issues raised throughout this volume and how they have reconfigured our understanding of founding moments in constitutionalism.
I.