ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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The Lived Experience of the Law in India

Law, Justice and Human Rights in India: Short Reflections by Kalpana Kannabiran, Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2021; pp 416, `1,500.

Elusive Justice to Dalits in the ‘Land of Social Justice’

The recent inhuman incident of mixing human faeces in the overhead tank supplying water to Dalit colony in Vengaivayal village in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu reflects the perpetuating violence against the Dalits. Locating this brutal violence within the larger framework of violence against Dalits in Tamil Nadu, the lackadaisical attitude of Dravidian parties when dealing with the issues related to Dalits is brought to the fore.

Internal Labour Migration in India

Using latest household-level data from the India Human Development Survey the relationship between “social,” “administrative,” and “informational” distance and internal labour migration is analysed.

Brahminical Environmentalism and Conservation Laws in India

Research Radio is a podcast on which we discuss research published in the Economic and Political Weekly

A Critique of Non-Marxist Caste Studies

Caste as a system of Brahminical ideas derived from Hinduism in isolation from material conditions and history, a view common to non-Marxist caste studies, is a mystification. The Marxist view of caste as a social relation of production rooted in economic, political, and cultural conditions specific to time and space is a demystification. Neither the theory of caste nor the praxis of its annihilation, which was Ambedkar’s dream, is conceivable outside Marxism.

Entrenching Brahminical Conservation

Amendments to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 were made by the union government in December 2022. These amendments resulted in an increase in the animal species protected by the WPA, while also increasing the penalty manifold. Against this background, it is argued that the criminal–legal framework of wildlife conservation established by the WPA is rooted in Brahminical environmentalism. The WPA will further strengthen the web of criminalisation around forest-dependent livelihoods, predominantly affecting forest-dwelling communities.

Colonial Goa and the ‘Asprushya Question’

The history of the so-called asprushya (untouchable), and what exactly this entailed, was actively debated in the Marathi press, since the second decade of the 20th century.

Hundred Years above the Line

Region, Religion and Politics: 100 Years of Shiromani Akali Dal by Amarjit Singh Narang, New York: Routledge, 2022; pp 420, $128 (paperback).

Environment Justice and Caste after Liberalisation

This article discusses the interrelationship between environmental justice, caste, and liberalisation. The deep natural, social, and cultural processes involved in the making and unmaking of environment and labour in a caste-capitalist economy impact people’s sense of freedom, belonging, and values. It uses the brick kiln industry in the Jhajjar district of Haryana as a case study to explore the impact of liberalisation on the use of labour and the environment, which reproduce or repudiate structures of hierarchy. The article also investigates how migration of people and capital, promoted by liberalisation, affects the rights and dignity of labour and the sustainable use of natural resources. Economic restructuring post liberalisation is not only perpetuating discrimination and disparity in the economy but also aggravating climate injustices, where Dalits are increasingly facing the impact of rise in emissions and heat in their working and living areas.

Unscrupulous Inequality

Can inequality be unscrupulous? If yes, what are the conditions within which such a form could become bearable, if not absolutely justifiable? It is imperative to address the first question with reference to scrupulous forms of inequality.

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