The rule of law and citizenship in central India

Post-Colonial Dilemmas

Bibliographic Data

ID4842283
AuthorsNandini Sundar (0000-0003-3218-058X, University of Delhi, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume15
Issue3-4
Pages419-432
Publication date2011-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621025.2011.564804
OpenAlexW2039378905
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited35

This article argues that the ‘rule of law’ has become a central goal in popular struggles the world over, and it is citizenship struggles which infuse the rule of law with substantive, as against a thin procedural, meaning. This is especially true in post-colonial societies like India, with a tradition of inherited colonial law designed for subject-hood rather than citizenship, growing inequality which affects both the enactment and interpretation of law, and the violation of law by those who are meant to protect it. Demanding implementation of existing laws, breaking laws that are patently unjust whether through armed struggle or non-violent social movements, or seeking to change laws in favour of new and more democratic laws, are all major avenues by means of which people express their aspirations as citizens. However, law's mutually constitutive relation with social practice means that people enter into political and legal negotiations already constituted as certain kinds of legal subjects, which constrains their imagination in certain ways

Citizenship · Colonialism · Democracy · Political science · Politics · Rule of law · Sociology · Judicial and Constitutional Studies · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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