Editorial: New Year, New Leadership

At the end of 2021, we said goodbye to our fantastic former Co-Editors Erika Arban and Dinesha Samararatne, whose leadership and commitment to scholarship and engagement have made the IACL Blog what it is today. Under their leadership, the Blog has developed in remarkable ways, as authors explore new directions in research and readers utilise Blog posts in their teaching, advocacy and scholarship. The IACL Blog connects an ever-growing and diverse range of perspectives, themes and countries in conversation on constitutional law. 

Not only did Erika and Dinesha create new and exciting content for the Blog, they also built an amazing team of kind and committed Guest Editors, Assistant Editors, and support staff without whom the Blog would not exist. We welcome Elisabeth Perham as our new Associate Editor, and as new Co-Editors we feel very lucky to have such a great team supporting us.

In 2022, we will continue to pursue the mission of the IACL Blog: to provide a user-friendly meeting place for constitutionalists from all parts of the world to engage in conversations that respond to new issues, frame important debates and look ahead to new ideas and developments in constitutional law. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our lives and reduce opportunities for personal connections and participation in real life events. Although we look forward to meeting face to face at the World Congress of Constitutional Law in Johannesburg in December 2022, online forums will continue to provide ways to connect and collaborate across closed borders and remote workplaces. 

To this end, Blog Symposia, in which different authors come together to explore a particular theme, topic or question, will continue as a signature feature of the Blog. We will also continue to promote new voices, including early career scholars, practitioners, activists, and those who have been historically underrepresented, so that our field remains open and welcoming to emerging and established constitutionalists alike. In pursuit of these goals, we will reinforce our existing partnerships and look to create new ones with specialised blogs and journals as well as with public law centers at universities across the globe. 

We also encourage readers and contributors to explore the potential of the blog format to move communication beyond words on a page. The IACL Blog hosts podcasts, vlogs (video blogs) and author interviews, offering creative alternatives to the written format. New initiatives such as the Workshop my Paper series take advantage of the blog platform to give and receive feedback on forthcoming works and works-in-progress alike. The online format also gives authors the opportunity to share information and ideas in dynamic and interactive ways, using data visualizations such as maps and charts, animations, art and photography – all of which can communicate ideas and tell stories in ways that the printed page cannot.

As Co-Editors of the IACL Blog, we invite you to submit blog posts, discuss topics for blog posts and symposia, recommend new books for author interviews, and share new ideas so that the IACL Blog can continue to serve our community. We wish you all the best for the year ahead and look forward to discussing all things constitutional with you in 2022! 

Anna Dziedzic and Mariana Velasco-Rivera