Constitutional Exposure: A Postulation for Democracy to Come

CONSTITUTIONAL EXPOSURE identifies and then builds on the principal postulation in Jacques Derrida's discourse on 'democracy to come.' First, Pablo Ghetti argues that Derrida's key postulation in democracy to come lies in what is termed 'constitutional exposure, ' i.e. exposure of the 'constitutional' experience of law (constitution-ruin, visibility-invisibility, friendship-enmity, universality-singularity). Second, he intensifies Derrida's discourse by further addressing both law and the 'to come.'

There are two obstacles to Derrida's constitutional exposure: his understanding of juridical law [droit] and the 'to come' as opposed to justice and sovereignty, respectively. As in democracy per se, what is needed of law and 'to come' is to insist upon 'their' exposure. Democracy 'to come' is a postulation that still has a 'to come' ultimately towards an overexposure as a radical democratic postulation with and beyond Derrida. Such a beyond is thought from within Derrida's work and his sources, but also through critical legal thought, radical democratic theory, post-Marxism, and the philosophy of Jean-Luc Nancy. Working towards a more equal and fuller enjoyment of democracy and the exposed constitution of law, this book crafts various strategies and develops a language through which constitutional settings can be further studied and critiqued, and through which their democratic core can be defended and enhanced.

Pablo Ghetti, PhD, is a Brazilian diplomat and former lecturer in law (University of Exeter). He has taught Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law and Public International Law in the UK and Brazil. He is currently based in Geneva, posted at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the UN. As a diplomat, he has held the positions of Chief of the Political Section at the Brazilian Embassies in Damascus, 2011-12 (until evacuation to Beirut), and Rabat, 2012-15. In Brasilia, he served in the Middle Eastern and in the Central Asian Affairs Divisions of the Brazilian Ministry of External Affairs. Pablo Ghetti also acted as clerk to the Labour Prosecutor's Office and as titular counselor at the High Council of UERJ (University of the State of Rio de Janeiro).