Full Description
This volume presents a multidimensional analysis of the current operational law - both constitutional and customary - in Northeast India. It looks at how colonialism redesigned and redefined extant customary practices, leaving a permanent legacy on the legal governance and societal structure of the post-colonial Indian state.
The book interrogates "law" through a broad spectrum of issues including gender, partition, the legacy of colonial structures, and religion as a form of resistance against land grabbing and censorship. It delineates a distinct historical process of the evolution of law and custom and focuses on the intimate links between law and the dynamics of state, ethnicity, and governance.
As a unique contribution, the book offers new insights into how and why the continuity of colonial law within a democratic framework perpetuates deep-rooted problems in governance and the psyche of the people. It will be indispensable for students and researchers of history, law, anthropology, legal anthropology, sociology, Indian politics, and South Asian studies.
Contents
1. Colonial State and Law and Customs in Northeast India 2. The colonial legacy in Manipur 3. From Lines to Belts': Immigration, Anxiety and Community Relations in late Colonial and Post-Colonial Assam 4. Colonial Legal Formation in Northeast India: An Introspective Gaze in the Contemporary Context 5. Customary Law and Gender in Northeast India 6. Power-Relations in Matrilineal Khasi-Jaintia Society: Revisiting Traditional Political Institutions from Pre-Colonial to Contemporary Times 7. Turning to Stone: Transformations in Angami-Naga Patriarchy 8. Creating World Heritage at the Margins of the State: Wildlife, Custom and Culture 9. Legislating 'Objectionable Content' in the British Indian Empire and the Case of Assam in Northeast India (1910-1950)
