Towards Institutionalization of the Law and Society Cluster (LSC) at NLSIU
The origins of the Law and Society Cluster at the NLSIU goes back to the idea of linking legal education and research with civil society processes, first articulated explicitly in the 1999 proposal submitted by the CCL to HIVOS. The Law and Civil Society processes were more in the form of a series of short-term forums to be organized in response to civil society initiatives to “develop a keener insight into contemporary issues of common concern”.
The experience of linking up with a range of civil society organizations over a 3 year period led in 2002 to the preparation of a Draft Policy Statement on the Law and Society Cluster (LSC). The Statement described the LSC as an “interdisciplinary space from which one can do work relating to contemporary challenges one faces in the legal/social realm”. The Statement outlined the primary objectives of the LSC as:
- Work towards making law and lawyering relevant to society;
- Adopt and promote inter-disciplinary approaches to legal education and research;
- Promote an understanding of the law as it is rooted in its socio-economic and cultural context; and
- Engage actively in the course of research and other activities with a range of emancipatory social processes.
At this point the LSC was supposed to include the Centre for Child and the Law (CCL and its various Units), the Centre for Women and the Law, Centre for Casteism Communalism and Law (CSCCL) and the National Institute of Human Rights.
The independent external evaluation of the LSC carried out in June 2006 offered several insights that have a bearing on the future development of the LSC. The review focused only on the CCL and its four constituent units which have remained consistently active during this period. Some of the most significant insights include:
- The individual Units of the CCL have not always functioned as part of a larger, broader entity like LSC;
- The Units have however maintained a very strong law and society orientation and approach in their work;
- At their levels all Units have been effective in research, advocacy, outreach, civil society linkages and documentation;
- The Units are not bound together by a common institutionalized roots in the NLSIU, especially in terms of a role in the teaching programme of the institution; and
- Even though the LSC did not have a well defined institutionalized existence there is significant potential and relevance for it to take on a definite institutional shape.
The LSC was envisaged as a multiplex entity i.e. a dynamic institutional configuration that would act as both a forum and a process to integrate legal education and social research with public action and social advocacy. The LSC’s cornerstone was a continuous and strategic partnership between its various Centres/Units.
Even though there has not been a LSC in ‘real’ terms it is vital a vibrant LSC has immense potential to strengthen the work of all Centres, including CCL, in diverse ways and that in the longer run the CCL’s own effectiveness would hinge on its ability to widen the spaces for a law and society discourse within NLSUI. The different Units of the CCL and other Centres therefore have a significant stake in facilitating and investing in the building of a strong Law and Society discourse within the NLSUI, which while as an idea is generally welcome, still lacks a firm institutional foothold.
Further, during the review process the issue of identity of individual Units vis-à-vis the CCL emerged as an important one. For instance situating the Labour Studies programme within the CCL is often difficult to explain and confusing since the work may actually not have an explicit child focus. It may therefore be appropriate to reconfigure the CCL itself within the broader LSC.
To give shape to the LSC it is vital that at least two important issues are addressed:
- The differences in activity levels and resources between the different Centres; and
- The lack of a point of convergence that brings Centres together.
Centres within the NLSIU have largely been left with the responsibility of mobilizing their own resources. Whatever are the merits and demerits of this approach it is but obvious that for the LSC to take any real shape it will need resources to support a common agenda across the CCL, CWL, NIHR and CSCCL.
A common/shared agenda across these three Centres would contribute to expanding the breadth of the work of each Centre and further strengthen the approach of all Centres in conducting inter-disciplinary research and practice into the interaction of law and society. At the same time a common agenda across the three Centres i.e. the LSC would also enable inter-disciplinary research in law and society to a more substantially informed academic work at NLSIU.
The Faculty members/researchers associated with the Centres already have a wealth of accumulated experience in inter-disciplinary areas covering various contemporary themes/issues. In addition some of them have also developed an excellent network of relationships with civil society organizations, independent lawyers, academicians, and other experts whom it can bring to the NLSIU to enrich the teaching-learning processes both at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels. These links with practioners and the field could also be creatively used to create new and unique learning opportunities for students and faculty members of the NLSIU beyond the classroom.
It goes without saying however that the LSC agenda must take cognizance of not only the different capacities of Centres but also the existing workload of Faculty members and researchers. It is therefore imperative that in the short run the LSC agenda actually complements ongoing work of Faculty members and researchers even while facilitating a more visible grounding of a law and society approach. An obvious site for such a common agenda is the teaching programme at NLSIU. We have initiated the process of dialogue and discussions among the members of faculty, researchers and students within NLSIU.