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Abstract:
Usually regarded as a 1970s phenomenon, this article demonstrates that the debate between Jürgen Habermas and Niklas Luhmann continued until Luhmann’s death in 1998, and that the development of the two theorists’ positions during the 1980s and 1990s was characterised by convergence rather than by divergence. In the realm of legal theory, the article suggests, convergence advanced to the extent that Habermas’ discourse theory may be characterised as a normative superstructure to Luhmann’s descriptive theory of society. It is further shown that the debate’s result was an almost complete absorption of Habermas’ theory by Luhmann’s systems theoretical complex – an outcome facilitated by Luhmann’s deliberate translation of central Habermasian concepts into systems theoretical concepts. The article argues that both the debate and Habermas’ conversion were made possible because not only Habermas’ but also Luhmann’s work can be considered a further development of the German idealist tradition. What Luhmann did not acknowledge was that this manoeuvre permitted the achievement of Habermas’ normative objectives; nor did he notice that it could eradicate a central flaw in the system theoretical construction, by allowing the context within which distinctions are drawn to be mapped – an issue of pivotal importance for grasping relationships between different social systems, and coordinating them, via the deployment of legal instruments.

Systems Theory, Luhmann, Habermas, German Idealism, Time, Complexity, Hegel, Discourse Theory, Kjaer

Abstract:
The EU is a structure which is positioned “in-between” hierarchically organized nation-state governing structures and heterarchically structured global governance structures. Thus, the EU is a hybrid which partly relies on governing and partly on governance. This two-dimensionality is the central reason why the question of the constitutional character of the EU remains fundamentally unresolved. Thus, it is proposed that the EU should aim for the development of a constitutional form aimed at alleviating the tensions inherent in the European construction through a conflict of laws approach. In order to respect the hybridity of the Union, such an approach will however have to be based on a three-dimensional conflict of laws concept insofar as it would have to take account of horizontal conflicts between territorial units, vertical conflicts between the EU and its ember states as well as horizontal conflicts between the functionally differentiated structures of the wider society.

Kjaer, European Union, Conflict of Laws, Joerges, Teubner, transnational law, EU, integration, constitutionalization

Abstract:
The present report contains the proceedings of the inter-disciplinary workshop ‘Transnational Standards of Social Protection: Contrasting European and International Governance’, which was jointly organised by the EU funded project Reconstituting Democracy in Europe (RECON) and the Collaborative Research Center 'Transformations of the State' at the University of Bremen.

The report contains 10 contributions concerned with different aspects of social regulation within the EU as well as within global structures such as the WTO.

International Trade, Social Protection, Human Rights, Services, Governance, WTO, EU, Joerges, Kjaer

Abstract:
The concept of “network” has become the most central concept within the work of Karl‐Heinz Ladeur (KHL). It is an omnibus concept which he uses to extrapolate insights at all levels: It is used to provide a general framework at the level of Gesellschaftstheorie (social theory) in the sense that it provides insights into the general structure of society and thereby into the context within which legal processes unfold. At the level of organizational theory it provides a basis for understanding the transformation of organizational structures as it unfolds through the breakdown of hierarchy and the boundaries between the private and the public, just as the network concept plays an important role in its attempt to formulate a legal theory which is adequate for a society which, according to KHL, has become postmodern.

This article seeks to critically examine the function and “added value” of KHL’s network concept in relation to the European integration and constitutionalization process. It is argued that the concept provides a very useful overall framework, but that its usefulness might be enhanced when combined with more concrete studies of the actual function of networks in the EU context, just as the network concept should be more directly combined with an attempt to develop a conceptual framework for the juridification of networks.

Kjaer, Ladeur, Networks, European Union Law, Comitology, Reflexivity, Joerges, Proceduralisation, Network Theory, European Integration

Abstract:
This paper analyses the potential legitimacy basis of REACH, the new regulatory system for the EU chemicals market.

Chemicals Regulation, functional differentiation, Systems Theory, Risk Regulation, Non-Majoritarian Institutions. Legitimacy