A People’s Constitution: Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic - SAC

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, South Asia Center Present: 

Rohit De, Assistant Professor, History, Yale University

A People’s Constitution: Law and Everyday Life in the Indian Republic

It has long been contended that the Indian Constitution of 1950, a document in English created by elite consensus, has had little influence on India’s greater population. Drawing upon the previously unexplored records of the Supreme Court of India, De upends this narrative The Constitution came alive in the popular imagination so much that ordinary people attributed meaning to its existence, took recourse to it, and argued with it. Constitutional culture was shaped by those on the margins of society. 

For more information, please contact Emera Bridger Wilson (elbridge@syr.edu). 

Sponsoring Departments: South Asia Center, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, College of Law, Department of History