Discourse on Rights in India: Debates and Dilemmas

This book is a compelling examination of the theoretical discourse on rights and its relationship with ideas, institutions and practices in the Indian context. By engaging with the crucial categories of class, caste, gender, region and religion, it draws attention to the contradictions and contestations in the arena of rights and entitlements. The chapters by eminent experts provide deep and nuanced insights on the intersecting issues and concerns of individual and group identities as well as their connection with the state along with its multifarious institutions and practices. The volume not only engages with the dilemmas emerging out of the rights discourse but also sets out to recognize the significance of a shared commitment to a rights-based framework towards the promotion of justice and democracy in society.

The book will be useful to academics, social scientists, researchers and policymakers. It will be of special interest to teachers and students in the fields of politics, development studies, philosophy, ethics, sociology, gender/women’s studies and social movements.

Bijayalaxmi Nanda is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Miranda House, University of Delhi, India. Her areas of specialization include political theory, feminist politics and human rights. She has been conferred the Teacher’s Excellence Award (2017) by the University of Delhi. She is actively involved with campaigns for the rights of girl children and women in India for the past two decades. Her publications include Sex-Selective Abortion and the State: Politics, Laws and Institutions in India (2018), Human Rights, Gender and Environment (co-authored, 2007) and Understanding Social Inequality: Concerns of Human Rights, Gender and Environment (co-edited, 2010). She has also contributed chapters to edited volumes and has written extensively on issues of gender discrimination, girl-child rights, health and education policies, human development and human rights.

Nupur Ray is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, India. Her areas of interest include political philosophy, feminist politics and political theory. She is associated with campaigns to counter violence against women in India. She has written extensively on the rights discourse and has published ‘Exploring ‘empowerment’ and ‘agency’ in Ronald Dworkin’s Theory of Rights: A Study of Women’s Abortion Rights in India’ in the Indian Journal of Gender Studies (2014). She has contributed chapters to edited volumes and presented papers at various national and international conferences.