New Books List

The beginning of Anglo¿Hindu jurisprudence was occasioned by decisive developments in the cultural, intellectual, and legal history of India. This book deals with the appropriation of the Dharma¿¿stras ¿ a powerful written tradition ¿ and its codification, in the construction of Hindu law. It explores the significant connections between this process of formalization and the consolidation of the empire in Bengal. It analyses the shifting administrative and political needs of the colonial regime as well as the perceptions and attitudes of the officials in this process of codification. Through a careful study of the compilations, Viv¿dar¿avasetu and Viv¿dabhang¿r¿ava alongside their late eighteenth-century colonial translations, the book brings out the ways in which ancient textual traditions ¿ the prescriptive, normative, and moralistic rules of the Dharma¿¿stras ¿ were metamorphosed into legal rules to be directly administered in courts. Investigating the intricate and dynamic links between power and knowledge in the evolution of institutions under colonial rule, this book underlines innovative ways of looking at the legal history of colonial India.

This omnibus brings together three significant works on Gender equality which comprehensively analyse key issues including women's rights, social justice, and empowerment. Together, the Books span Legal change in India over two centuries when women's rights were negotiated, rewritten and coded. In doing so they provide a comprehensive and significant understanding of why progressive laws, once passed, continue to be implemented in such a limited manner. They highlight the fact that legislations in the past fifty years have not brought gender equality in any real sense. In An Introduction especially written for this collection, social activist and women's rights lawyer Flavia Agnes explores the complex Relationship between notions of patriarchy, sexuality, property, and the manner in which they are normalized and essentialized through State intervention and judicial discourse.