1st Edition

The Politics of Personal Law in South Asia Identity, Nationalism and the Uniform Civil Code

By Partha S. Ghosh Copyright 2007
    352 Pages
    by Routledge India

    352 Pages
    by Routledge India

    It is a political study of the controversy surrounding the issue of the uniform civil code vis-à-vis personal laws from a South Asian perspective.

    At the centre of the debate is whether there should be a centralized view of the legal system in a given society or a decentralized view, both horizontally and vertically.

    This issue is entangled within the threads of identity politics, minority rights, women’s rights, national integration, global Islamic politics and universal human rights. Champions of each category view it through their own prisms, making the debate extremely complex, especially in politically and socially plural South Asia.

    So, this book attempts to harmonize the threads of the debate to provide a holistic political analysis.

    Contents  1. Introduction: Issues and Concepts  2. The Evolution of the Indian Discourse  3. It is Politics, Stupid!  4. On the Fringe: The Tribal Laws  5. The South Asian Mosaic  6. The Wider Context  7. Conclusion.  Appendices.  Glossary

    Biography

    Partha S. Ghosh is currently Professor of South Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been associated with New Delhi-based Indian Council of Social Science Research for the last two decades where he has held positions of Assistant Director (January 1978–April 1981, August 1983–December 1984)); Deputy Director ( January 1987–August 1990) and Director ( September 1990–August 1992; September 1993– December 1995). He has previously published seven books, and has contributed numerous articles to professional journals in India and abroad.

    "This book is important because it helps us understand the complex political choices that might be made in the area of personal law in South Asia." - Muneer Mustafa, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 18, No. 3, September 2010