The Hindu Family and the Emergence of Modern India: Law, Citizenship and Community (Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society, Series Number 22) - Hardcover

Newbigin, Eleanor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1107037832 ISBN 13: 9781107037830

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Between 1955 and 1956 the Government of India passed four Hindu Law Acts to reform and codify Hindu family law. Scholars have understood these acts as a response to growing concern about women's rights but, in a powerful re-reading of their history, this book traces the origins of the Hindu law reform project to changes in the political-economy of late colonial rule. The Hindu Family and the Emergence of Modern India considers how questions regarding family structure, property rights and gender relations contributed to the development of representative politics, and how, in solving these questions, India's secular and state power structures were consequently drawn into a complex and unique relationship with Hindu law. In this comprehensive and illuminating resource for scholars and students, Newbigin demonstrates the significance of gender and economy to the history of twentieth-century democratic government, as it emerged in India and beyond.

About this title

Book Description:

Tracing the historical roots of India's transition to independence, Newbigin's highly original study explores the role of economy, gender and religion in the development of representative politics in twentieth-century India. This book will stimulate debate across disciplines, particularly among scholars considering law, gender and economy in colonial and post-colonial societies.

About the Author:

Eleanor Newbigin is Lecturer in Modern South Asian History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London where she teaches courses on colonial and postcolonial South Asian history to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Prior to this, between 2007 and 2010, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge. She has published articles in Modern Asian Studies and the Indian Economic and Social History Review.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1107037832
• ISBN 13: 9781107037830
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 277