What counts as constitutionalism in the Global South? An anthropological perspective

In this essay, I review the publication ‘Buddhism and Comparative Constitutional Law’ in light of the literature on constitutionalism in the Global South. Commending the innovative and important contributions of the book, I suggest that the chapters can be understood through one of three schemas or relationships between Buddhism and comparative constitutional law: Buddhism And …, Buddhism As … or Buddhism Against … Comparative Constitutional Law. I then reverse the analysis and offer an anthropological reflection on Comparative Constitutional Law as Buddhism, that is, to explore the ways in which the study and practice of comparative constitutional law exhibits features like a world religion or Buddhism. Finally, I turn to consider the sacred texts in comparative constitutional law, and whether sacred texts include edited books, such as the book under review. I argue that edited books play an important role in the field and that this edited book defines a field, much like a sacred text defines a religion.