Challenging The Rules(s) of Law : Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India

Over the past three decades human rights movements in India have persistently interrogated systems of criminal justice in the country. The concerns have ranged from addressing the problem of arbitrary detention during the emergency to constructing entire communities as criminal thereby justifying forced dispossession and/or mass violence. While overt violence by state actors and their complicity in violence by dominant private actors has been a major concern, there has also been the problem of the abdication by the state with respect to provision of the means for bare life to a majority of the people, the denial of the right to bare life compounding their vulnerability to a repressive rule of law. There is a widespread acceptance of the fact that the law is unequal especially in terms of access to and delivery of justice, inequality of process negating the fundamental guarantee of equality. This collection of essays re-examines the field of criminology through an interdisciplinary lens, challenging in the process unproblematic assumptions of the rule of law and opening out avenues for a renewed and radical restatement of the contexts of criminal law in India. This collection is a significant step towards mapping the ways in which interdisciplinary research and human rights activism might inform legal praxis more effectively and holistically. The contributors are a diverse group widely respected activists, bureaucrats, scholars, and professionals who share concerns on criminal justice systems and the need to entrench human rights in the Indian polity. Laws of metamorphosis : from nomad to offender / Meena Radhakrishna Victims and villains : the construction of female criminality in colonial Calcutta / Sumanta Banerjee "That despicable specimen of humanity" : policing of homosexuality in India / Arvind Narrain Sexual assault and the law / Kalpana Kannabiran Social exclusion and criminal law / S.R. Sankaran Building a subaltern women's perspective / Jayshree P. Mangubhai & Aloysius Irudayam S.J. Whose life is it anyway? Adivasi communities and entitlements to life / Seema Misra Preserving wellness and personhood : a psychosocial approach to the child / Shekhar Seshadri and Kaveri I. Haritas Penal strategies and political resistance in colonial and independent India / Ujjwal Kumar Singh Communities, gender, and the border : a legal narrative on India's North East / Paula Banerjee Parens Patriae : exercising patriarchal prerogative in Post-Partition India / Ritu Menon Law and life in the state of nature : archiving stories from legal literacy / Abha Singhal Joshi Revisiting impunity and criminality : of corruption, collusion, consequences, and victims / Vijay K. Nagaraj Khap Panchayats in Haryana : sites of legal pluralism / K. S. Sangwan Crimes, passion, and detachment : colonial foundations of rule of law / Ranabir Samaddar Conspiracies of association : associational offences, associational freedoms, and the rule of law / K.G. Kannabiran Of strong medicine and weak stomachs : the resort to enhanced punishment in criminal law in India / Bikram Jeet Batra The contexts of criminology : a brief restatement / Kalpana Kannabiran. "This rare comprehensive critique of criminology in India brings together widely respected activists, advocates, bureaucrats, scholars and practitioners who share their concerns about the Indian criminal justice system through an interdisciplinary lens and discuss the need to entrench human rights in Indian polity. It is a significant step towards mapping the ways in which interdisciplinary research and human rights activism might inform legal praxis more effectively and holistically. Challenging the Rule(s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India contests unproblematic assumptions of the rule of law and opens out avenues for a renewed and radical study of criminal law in the country. The collections looks at criminal law from the early colonial period to the present, examining the problem of overt violence by state actors and their compliance with dominant private actors. It calls into question the denial by the state of the wherewithal for bare life, which compounds people's vulnerability to a repressive rule of law. This work is a must read for students, researchers and faculty of Law, Criminal Law, Criminology, Legal History, Human Rights, Sociology of Law, Political Science, Anthropology, Social Exclusion Studies and Colonial History. It will also be invaluable for law historians, legal scholars and policy makers, especially the judiciary"--Unedited summary from book jacket This rare comprehensive critique of criminology in India brings together widely respected activists, advocates, bureaucrats, scholars and practitioners who share their concerns about the Indian criminal justice system through an interdisciplinary lens and discuss the need to entrench human rights in Indian polity. It is a significant step towards mapping the ways in which interdisciplinary research and human rights activism might inform legal praxis more effectively and holistically. Challenging the Rule(s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India contests unproblematic assumptions of the rule of law and opens out avenues for a renewed and radical study of criminal law in the country. The collection looks at the problem of criminal law from the early colonial period to the present, examining the problem of overt violence by state actors and their compliance with dominant private actors. It calls into question the denial by the state of the wherewithal for bare life, which compounds people's vulnerability to a repressive rule of law. This work is a must read for students, researchers and faculty of Law, Criminal Law, Criminology, Legal History, Human Rights, Sociology of Law and Colonial History. It will also be invaluable for law historians, legal scholars and policy makers, especially the judiciary.

challenging The Rules(s) Of Law Is A Collection Of Essays That Re-examines The Field Of Criminology Through An Interdisciplinary Lens, Challenging In The Process Unproblematic Assumptions Of The Rule Of Law And Opening Out Avenues For A Renewed And Radical Restatement Of The Contexts Of Criminal Law In India.

the Collection Is A Significant Step Towards Mapping The Ways In Which Interdisciplinary Research And Human Rights Activism Might Inform Legal Praxis More Effectively And Holistically. The Contributors Are A Diverse Group - Widely Respected Activists, Bureaucrats, Scholars And Professionals - Who Share Concerns On Criminal Justice Systems And The Need To Entrench Human Rights In The Indian Polity.