The Proposal

” We need to envision and promote a new leap forward in civility as an alternative to the inertia and blindness of politics: the expansion of the constitutional paradigm at the global level.” Ferrajoli

Luigi Ferrajoli’s proposal for a Constitution of the Earth is not a utopia in the negative sense of a fantasy or an intellectual escape from reality. It is It is a utopia in the positive sense: a normative ideal toward which political action must be directed.

It is the founding document of a global federation, based on binding principles, thanks to the introduction of global safeguards and protective institutions:

A ban on the production of weapons to guarantee peace.
The creation of a planetary common heritage to protect nature’s vital assets.
Global health and education services.
A global tax system to finance a universal welfare state.
A universal basic income.
An international constitutional court that prevents arbitrary actions of governments and major economic powers.

In fact, the true utopia is to think that we can carry on as we are now: the illusion that we can continue to base democracies and the excessive standard of living of the most privileged parts of the world on the hunger and misery of the rest, on the force of arms and on the ecologically unsustainable development of a ruthless economic system.

A PARADIGM SHIFT

The great crisis of our constitutional democracies is largely due to the asymmetry between the global nature of the economy and the still-state-centric nature of politics.

It is necessary to build a supranational legal system capable of guaranteeing peace, environmental sustainability and fundamental rights for all, as well as freeing national democracies from the current subordination of their governments to global economic and financial powers.

Ferrajoli's legal project adapts the constitutional paradigm to the challenges of the globalized world and expands this paradigm into 4 directions:

From national to supranational constitutionalism. Nation-states lack the power to limit and bind the powers that govern the globalized economy.

From public law to private law. Not only the power of the state, but also that of the market must be regulated by law.

From fundamental rights to fundamental goods. A planetary domain must be established that is protected from commodification and regulations must be established to protect vital goods and prohibit illicit goods.

Natural vital goods: clean air, drinking water, environmental integrity.
Artificial vital goods: universal access to medicines, vaccines, food.
Artificial illicit goods: their production, trade and possession (nuclear weapons, weapons of attack and death, hard drugs, radioactive waste and all toxic or hazardous waste) should be prohibited.

From liberal to social constitutionalism: the guarantee of social rights in the form of global welfare.

THE BOOK

"Per una costituzione della Terra. L'Umanita to the bivio" was written during the pandemic of the Covid-19. Published in Italian by Feltrinelli in January 2022, it is currently translated into 7 languages.

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In 2026 The Federation of the Earth will be published, bringing Ferrajoli’s proposal to a close. Download the teaching guide

In April 2025 “Progettare il futuro. Per un constituzionalismo globale” was published. Ferrajoli reaffirms his proposal and clearly outlines a way out of the crisis of democracy and global justice. A necessary utopia, a political and legal project that aims to transform international law into a tool for true protection of the common goods and human dignity.