ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches the labyrinth of contemporary constitutionalism by another path; from the perspective of the struggles to gain recognition of diverse cultures over the last four centuries. In the course of these intercultural encounters, contemporary constitutionalism has been shaped in various aspects to recognise and accommodate cultural diversity. The recognition and accommodation of cultural diversity in the broader language of contemporary constitutionalism discloses what might be called the “hidden constitutions of contemporary societies.” Wittgenstein introduces the analogy between language and an ancient city to illustrate the understanding of language one comes to acquire by working through all the examples carefully assembled in the Philosophical Investigations. The analogy holds for the language of constitutionalism that is woven into the practices and institutions of contemporary societies.
