We welcome NLS alum Prof. Umakanth Varottil, Vice-Dean (Graduate Studies), National University of Singapore, as Centre Director (Visiting) and Independent Expert on the Advisory Board of the JSW Centre for the Future of Law at NLSIU.
About Prof. Varottil
Prof. Umakanth Varottil (NLS BA LLB ’95) specialises in corporate law and governance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. While his work is generally comparative in nature, his specific focus is on India and Singapore. He has co-authored or co-edited five books, published articles in international journals and founded the IndiaCorpLaw Blog. He has also taught on a visiting basis at law schools in Australia, India, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. (Source: National University of Singapore)
About the Centre
In September 2024, NLSIU announced a grant from the JSW Group for a comprehensive redevelopment and expansion of the University’s core Academic Block & Precinct, along with the establishment of the ‘JSW Centre on the Future of Law’.
This Centre will anchor academic and policy research and curricular interventions that explore the effects of new technologies on the future of the legal system, the legal profession and legal education. The Centre will develop new and appropriate models of legal regulation and incubate new technologies that facilitate legal system reform and access to justice. Under the leadership of a Centre Director, the Centre will host doctoral and postdoctoral researchers who will engage with multiple stakeholders including governments, domestic and international regulators, academia, civil society and private sector entities. It aims to foster collaboration among academia, government bodies, regulatory authorities, and the private sector, driving the development of innovative models for legal regulation and incubating cutting-edge legal technologies.
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), in collaboration with the Harvard Law School (HLS), is offering a comparative copyright law course titled ‘CopyrightX: NLSIU’ in the upcoming trimester. This eight week hybrid course will start on March 3, 2025 and end by April 30, 2025. This is an affiliate course of the CopyrightX program, offered by Prof. William Fisher and Prof. Ruth Okedijiat Harvard Law School, and is open for professionals and students from across South Asia.
About the course
The course will explore diverse legal aspects of copyright and its impact on different fields like art, entertainment and technology. This year, the course will be focusing in detail on the impact of AI on copyright law and creativity. The course will examine the current status of AI related copyright litigations in different jurisdictions across the globe and also introduce debates on reforming copyright law.
What makes the course at NLSIU unique is its equal focus on both the US Copyright law and the Indian Copyright law, aimed also to provide the participants a comparative perspective. The course will also discuss copyright laws in other jurisdictions, wherever relevant. The course outline can be accessed from this link.
The course relies extensively on the case study method to explore the complex concepts in detail. The course follows a unique pedagogical approach of combining recorded lectures of Prof. William Fisher (HLS) and Prof. Ruth Okediji (HLS) with interactive live discussions led by Prof. Arul George Scaria(NLSIU). This may also be supplemented by discussions with copyright experts/ artists.
Course details
There will be three sessions (of two hours) per week. The course will be following a hybrid approach, wherein external candidates (students from outside NLSIU) will be joining the sessions online and NLSIU students will be joining offline on campus. A minimum of 80% attendance is mandatory for the enrolled students to participate in the final examination. Students are required to watch all the recorded videos and are required to attend the live lectures as well. As a fairly rigorous course, the course will have different in-class and take-home assignments for students.
The final examination will be administered primarily by the Harvard Law School. The students who meet all the course requirements and pass the final examination will receive a certificate from the Harvard Law School.
Eligibility
Candidates from any countries in South Asia, who are currently enrolled in or completed an undergraduate, postgraduate, or doctoral research programme are eligible to apply. We particularly welcome applications from professionals including judges, law practitioners, artists, data scientists and software developers, who are interested in learning about copyright law. However, as a course that demands extensive interactions, the enrolment will be limited and highly selective.
How to apply
Candidates interested in enrolling in the course should submit a formal request for enrolment through this link latest by January 31, 2025 (11:59 PM IST) along with the following documents:
1. CV
2. Motivation letter (clearly indicating why and how this course would be helpful for your career)
3. Copy of the student ID (if you are currently enrolled in any full-time academic course in a public funded university in South Asia)
The selection shall be primarily on the basis of the CV, academic and professional background of the candidate, and motivation letter. During the selection process diversity of backgrounds shall be given due consideration.
Fee
The fees for enrolment in this course shall be INR 50,000 + applicable taxes. However, NLSIU and Harvard Law School have decided to offer a complete fee waiver for students currently enrolled in any public funded university in South Asia for any full-time academic course. Please note that this fee waiver is not applicable for candidates who are in employment (for example, candidates who may have taken leave from their job to pursue a full-time Ph.D. programme).
Contact Us
If you have any questions regarding this course, please write to Prof. Arul George Scaria ().
NOTE: Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and it will not be possible to respond to individual queries on application status.
The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru (NLSIU) is organising a three-day interdisciplinary conference that delves into Indian Political Thought (IPT) from January 8 to 10, 2025.
Aim of the IPT Conference
The conference aims to explore the historical foundations of Indian political thought, assess their contemporary relevance, and envision future trajectories. Renowned scholars, researchers, and practitioners will participate in critical discussions to analyse the dynamics, intersections, and evolving contours of Indian political thought and practice, offering fresh perspectives and valuable insights.
Conveners: Prof. Shruti Kapila (University of Cambridge) and Dr. Karthick Ram Manoharan (NLSIU)
Main Sessions: A&O Conference Hall, NLSIU Campus, January 9-10, 2025
Schedule
The conference will kick off with a keynote address by Prof. Madhavan K. Palat at BIC on January 8, followed by panel discussions at the NLSIU campus on January 9 and 10.
Keynote Address by Prof. Madhavan K. Palat on “Nehru’s Democracy “
Date: January 8, 2025
Time: 6.30 PM
Venue: Bangalore International Centre (BIC)
Nehru presented himself as liberal and socialist; and while he did not declare himself to be a conservative, he readily deployed Burkean and traditionalist arguments for the legitimation of Indian democracy. But he also warned repeatedly that democracy could destroy itself through a democratic dictatorship and the tyranny of the majority. He derived the sources of democracy from the panchayats of tradition and from the nationalist traditions from the 19th century, and he asserted that it had become the yugadharma after Independence. He always argued that democracy had to be a movement that was dynamic but with institutions that were stable. When these came into conflict, as they inevitably must, he chose movement over institutions. The movement emerged from nationalist mobilization, and the institutions from the Constituent Assembly and its Constitution. He never ceased to warn that the Constitution was not a sacred text and that democracy could be protected only by democracy, not by the Constitution. As such, he repudiated in effect any concept of a Basic Structure. He sought to extend parliamentary democracy through Panchayati Raj, reasoning that democracy must be broadly based like a pyramid lest it topple. But ambiguities stalked him. He looked upon panchayats as bureaucratic as much as democratic extensions; he was dismayed that the electoral system was run ever more by knaves and scoundrels rather than visionaries like himself; and he feared that democracy was breeding an elective aristocracy and oligarchy. While he was unhappy that the two-party system did not seem to be evolving in India, he presciently discerned that India was run by a two-ideology system of Congress and Hindutva which could, at some time in the future, become parties. He saw the vital need for a moral ideal, but his idols were Buddha, Ashoka, Akbar, and Mahatma Gandhi, none of them democrats except for Gandhi, who was confessedly autocratic while engaging in a democratic mobilization. The only consistently democratic ideal he could present was himself, but he found a personality cult vulgar and comic. He despised democracy as promoting the average and the dull, but he feared that inspiration, charisma, and lofty commitment seemed to lead into politics of the right, which he deplored. His politics consisted in reconciling contradictions of this sort and living with ambiguities and inconsistencies, preferring the pragmatism of the conservative to the theoretical clarity of the socialist.
About the speaker
Prof. Madhavan K. Palat was born in 1947 and read history at the Universities of Delhi and Cambridge. Thereafter he specialized in late Imperial Russian history and took the D.Phil. degree at the University of Oxford. He taught history at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University from 1974 to 2004, was Visiting Professor in Imperial Russian History at the University of Chicago in 2006, National Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla 2010-2011, and was Editor of the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru from 2011, seeing the project to completion in 2019. He is now the Secretary of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund and is editing the online edition of the Nehru Archives, which will be as comprehensive as possible on Nehru rather than selective.
The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru (NLSIU), and the Ahmadi Foundation announce the establishment of the Justice Ahmadi Initiative on Rule of Law, Democracy and Social Justice (The Justice Ahmadi Initiative) in honour of, and to preserve and promote the legacy of former Chief Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi.
Justice Ahmadi was Visitor (now termed as Chancellor) of NLSIU during his term as Chief Justice of India between March 1995-March 1997. The Ahmadi Committee Report on Legal Education, 1994 is considered a landmark in legal educational reform in India, and played a vital role in enhancing the prestige of the ‘NLS model’ at an early stage of the institutional evolution of NLSIU. The Justice Ahmadi Initiative at NLSIU will help revive this long-standing connection and enable it to be expanded in new directions.
NLSIU and the Ahmadi Foundation have entered into a MoU to set up the Justice Ahmadi Initiative. The MoU was signed by Justice Ahmadi’s granddaughter, Ms. Insiyah Vahanvaty, on behalf of the Ahmadi Foundation and Prof. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice Chancellor, NLSIU on behalf of the University. The MoU was exchanged, and announced on the occasion of the Inaugural Lecture of the Ahmadi Foundation in New Delhi on December 5, 2024. Prof. Arun Thiruvengadam attended the event on behalf of NLSIU, and exchanged the MoU with Ms. Insiyah Vahanvaty, whose book “The Fearless Judge,” a biography of Justice Ahmadi was also launched during the event.
About the Initiative
The Initiative will work to advance the ideas that Justice Ahmadi championed throughout his distinguished career, including but not restricted to, human rights, education, inclusion and protection of vulnerable communities, judicial independence, alternate dispute resolution mechanisms, and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
NLSIU and the Ahmadi Foundation will initially focus on jointly organizing an annual distinguished lecture series. The University and the Foundation have resolved to work together to eventually establish an endowed Chair in the name of Justice Ahmadi, at which point the chair will subsume the Initiative.
Insiyah Vahanvaty, Trustee, Ahmadi Foundation
“The Justice Ahmadi Initiative on Rule of Law, Democracy, and Social Justice represents not just a tribute to the legacy of Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi, but a commitment to continue the work he so passionately championed throughout his life. By advancing the values of human rights, equality, judicial independence, and democratic integrity, we hope to inspire a new generation of legal minds and leaders who will carry forward his vision of a just society where the law is a tool for equality and empowerment – a lasting homage to his legacy.”
Mrinal Satish, Dean (Research), NLSIU
“NLSIU will work with the Ahmadi Foundation in promoting values that Chief Justice Ahmadi advanced through his life, and his work. These include human rights, judicial independence, inclusion and protection of vulnerable communities, and strengthening of democratic institutions. NLSIU has been committed to these values, which reflects in the work of its faculty, research centres, and Chairs. We look forward to organizing the Distinguished Lecture series in collaboration with the Ahmadi Foundation, bringing speakers of repute to discuss and debate issues of contemporary significance.”
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) hosted the ‘Equality and the Law’ Workshop in collaboration with the University of Zurich (UZH), Faculty of Law on December 3 and 4, 2024.
Equality is a foundational concept of legal systems. It is a bedrock principle of the rule of law. Equality before the law and the equal application of law are centrepieces of legal system. The legal means to do so are manifold and differentiated.
There is wide ranging and, in many aspects, controversial discussion about what equality means within this general legal framework and in the practice of law. It certainly encompasses formal equality, but it is usually understood to demand more than this formal equality, namely some form of substantive equality. What this means in detail is far from clear and is constantly renegotiated in legal systems. These questions are not only questions of legal system but concern problems that have deep roots in the long reflection about what justice in ethics and politics actually means.
Reflections
Prof. (Dr.) Matthias Mahlmann, Chair of Philosophy and Theory of Law, Legal Sociology and International Public Law, University of Zurich
“Scientific work in all disciplines needs challenges — ideas must be rigorously probed to ascertain their merits. Innovation depends on the possibility of critical, creative thought. The key to reach this aim is international dialogue to develop an understanding of different perspectives and to discover common ground. This workshop provided ample evidence for the significance and the meaningful results of open minded intellectual debate questioning, clarifying and probing the indispensable idea and universal value of equality in different spheres of law.”
Verma authored a paper titled ‘Bench Constitution and Case Assignments in the Indian Supreme Court,’ that was discussed at the workshop.
“I found the workshop on equality and law to have been a unique platform for early career academics who are in various stages of their doctoral work. It provided an opportunity to early career scholars to present their work-in-progress drafts, test their arguments, and get feedback from their peers. This was particularly helpful since opportunities for such peer-group learnings don’t come by easily for early career academics. The workshop stood apart for me for two more reasons. First, the intimate setting of a limited number of participants made peer connections more organic and free-flowing, as opposed to a larger conference. Second, the format of presentations was innovative for me. The discussant led the presentation by explaining the structure of a paper and raised clarificatory questions; the commentator presented a critique of the paper; and the author only came in at the end to respond. As each author led the discussion on someone else’s paper, it added to the sense of collegiality and collaborative effort to the workshop. I hope to see similar workshops being institutionalised as part of doctoral programs of universities, and the present workshop certainly presents a successful model for the same.”
Brunner authored a paper titled ‘The Promise of Substantive Equality? Transplanting the Indirect Discrimination Test into India.’
“The diverse range of papers allowed each of us to critically engage with areas of equality law and methods of analysis we were unfamiliar with. Personally, this allowed me to see my own research through several new lenses, which I had not previously considered. Furthermore, the unique format of the workshop – each paper had both a dedicated discussant and commentator – facilitated productive and substantive dialogue. I had a very positive experience and I hope to continue collaborating with the other participants in the months to come.”
Dr. Chattopadhyay authored a paper titled ‘Conjugality in Crisis: Mediation, Gendered Power, and the Pursuit of Equality in Matrimonial Disputes,’ that was discussed at the workshop.
“The Equality and the Law Workshop exemplified the collaborative spirit that lies at the heart of meaningful intellectual inquiry. The format with dedicated discussants and commentators fostered an environment where we not only engage deeply with each other’s work during the sessions but also continued these dialogues beyond the formal proceedings. This ongoing exchange of ideas is the essence of an enriching educational experience. What made this workshop particularly refreshing was its interdisciplinary nature, bringing together legal scholars and social scientists. This confluence of disciplines offered us varied perspectives on the complex idea of equality, enhancing our understanding of the topic through diverse lenses. It was invigorating to discuss our research, share the challenges of navigating academic spaces across borders, and realize that what connected us most was our shared commitment to rigorous methodologies and critical inquiry.”
Gaurav Dahiya, PhD Candidate, NLSIU
Dahiya authored a paper titled ‘Equality in Patent Licensing: Towards Ensuring Access to Standard-Essential Patents’
“The workshop was a great learning experience for me. Not only to gather feedback on my own research, but also to listen to other researchers and engage with them. It really piqued my curiosity, and left me wishing to read much more on the topics which were discussed. In this way, those two days were extremely fulfilling.”
Hächler authored a paper titled ‘Equality, Civic Identity and the Regulation of Private Schools in the Canton of Zurich’ that was discussed at the workshop.
“It was very fruitful also to get a different perspective on what issues of identity formation there are, what private schools play as a role within the educational system, and what they should do. I’m really grateful for this opportunity, not just this workshop, but also to see how life is in different parts of the world and what university academia is like in India. And I really love that whether you’re doing a workshop in Switzerland or in the UK or in India, you have this common ground of the scientific community.”
Dr. Elif Askin, Senior Assistant for Constitutional, Administrative and International Law and Basic Subjects (URPP Equality of Opportunity), University of Zurich
Dr Askin authored a paper titled ‘Feelings towards Law: Societal Occurrence and Impacts on Legal Norms Author,’ that was discussed at the workshop.
“I really liked having this dialogue with colleagues from India. I think the format followed during the conference was great – we had a discussant and a commentator. The discussant presents the paper, and the commentator comments on it, and I would then react to it.”
Nickerson authored a paper titled ‘Equality: A Problematic Concept? – Decolonial Arguments and Counterarguments,’ that was discussed at the workshop.
“I did a lot of research in Uganda last year, and I had some ideas, which I was not sure how one might view from an Indian context. And I did get really good feedback from the commentators and the discussions. I also loved the informal side of the workshop. If it’s a lot of junior scholars coming together and just sharing their work in progress, ideas don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be carefully fleshed out. Workshops like these are a good way to get junior scholars to talk to each other about their work and their struggles.”
“I was involved in the workshop both as an organiser and as a participant. My experience was rewarding on both the counts: as one of the organisers, I was able to view from close quarters the evolution of a great idea of intensive participation translate into tangible results for early career scholars. As a participant, I had the pleasure of going through a number of thought provoking papers and commenting on them. A few ideas in particular have stayed with me from the workshop. While at one level, many of the papers sought to re-examine some of the seemingly fundamental notions associated with equality, Prof. Mahlmann reminded us how it is important to continue having clarity and agreement over these foundational ideas, irrespective of the jurisdiction.”
Prof. (Dr.) Arun Thiruvengadam, Professor of Law and Chair, Doctoral Council at NLSIU
“This workshop was an experiment, but one that seems to have worked well. Professor Mahlmann and I have been discussing for many years ways to bring scholars together to build a sense of comity at a time when conversations across cultures are becoming more difficult to conduct because of all kinds of barriers that are rising up in our world. We are fortunate that both of our home institutions have been supportive of our attempts. We hope to replicate this in 2025 with a similar workshop in Zurich. We will continue to think of ways to enable such exchanges of ideas including within the MoU between our two home institutions. In future editions we will strive to bring together people from more diverse backgrounds, including non-legal scholars and members of civil society groups.”
The IJIEL Editorial Board invites original, unpublished manuscripts for consideration for the upcoming Volume 15 of the Journal. The Indian Journal of International Economic Law is a student led, Faculty Board edited, peer-reviewed law journal published annually by the National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU) under the patronage of the Indian government-sponsored chair on WTO Law.
The Journal encourages scholarship in the niche but rapidly emerging and dynamic fields of international economic law, in recognition of the staggering importance of cross-border trade, investment and commerce in the world today.
The mission of IJIEL is to provide a forum that encourages thoughtful scholastic attention to international economic law in developing countries. An emphasis on the enhancement of legal knowledge, critical awareness and research skills in the field of international economic law, and an integrated interdisciplinary approach to global economic governance informed by law, political science, sociology and economics, informs the philosophy and practice of IJIEL.
In keeping with this objective, past issues of the IJIEL have featured contributions by luminaries in this field such as Katharina Pistor, Raj Bhala, Yogesh Pai, Fiona Smith, Faizel Ismail, Enrico Baffi, Lotta Viikari, Michelle Sanson, Jason R. Bonin, Dr. Rafael Arcas and Colin Picker. We have also featured forewords by distinguished scholars such as Prof. Arvind Subramaniam, Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Prof. Jagdish Bhagwati, and Prof. Stephan Hobe. Further, we are committed to being open-access and our journal is also indexed on Manupatra, SCC, and HeinOnline.
Submission Guidelines
Detailed submission guidelines (along with the process for submission) for the Journal are available here. In brief, we accept submissions that fall within the following categories:
Articles (6,000 to 10,000 words, exclusive of footnotes) – Papers that comprehensively analyse a broad theme in international economic law and engage with relevant debates in existing literature.
Essays (4,000 to 6,000 words, exclusive of footnotes) – Papers that concisely analyse specific contemporary issues in the field of international economic law.
Case Notes and Legislative Commentaries (1,500 to 3,000 words, exclusive of footnotes).
Submission Process
All submissions must be made via the IJIEL Digital Commons Repository. IJIEL does not accept submissions over email. IJIEL endeavours to revert to authors with the first round of editorial review within 4 weeks of submission.
The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2025.
Additional Guidelines
Please ensure that your submission is made as a Microsoft Word document (.docx).
All manuscripts must be accompanied by a covering letter with the name(s) of the author(s), institution/affiliation, the title of the manuscript, and relevant contact information.
Manuscripts should be accompanied by an abstract of not more than 200 words.
Co – authorship (of up to 3 authors) is permitted.
IJIEL uses the OSCOLA (4th edn) Reference Guide for footnoting.
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) invites applications for one full-time role at the Centre for the Future of Law at NLSIU based out of the University campus for a period of one year (extendable). This position will be based in Bengaluru.
About the JSW Centre for the Future of Law
The JSW Centre for the Future of Law is a newly constituted research centre at NLSIU that aims to deepen research and scholarship on issues related to emerging technologies and law with a focus on areas such as health, ethics and bioengineering, risk regulation, data governance, legal reforms, and other related themes. Supported by the JSW Foundation, the Centre is slated to begin activities in 2025 under the guidance of Prof. Umakanth Varottil, Professor and Vice Dean (Graduate Studies), National University Singapore, as the Centre Director (Visiting).
Role description
The Project Manager will work closely with the Visiting Centre Director, the Centre’s Advisory Board, and the Dean (Research) at NLS to incubate the Centre’s mandate and activities. Specifically, the Project Manager will be responsible for:
Developing a plan for the Centre with details on its objectives, specific areas of focus, staffing requirements and main activities over five years, based on consultations with civil society, government, industry and academia;
Organising regular planning, review and strategy meetings with the Advisory Board;
Coordinating research workshops, stakeholder consultations and meetings as required;
Preparing research outputs including briefs, short articles and blogs as required;
Developing a database of subject experts drawn from academia, industry, civil society, and government to share regular updates and disseminate various outputs;
Coordinating social media outreach on the Centre’s work including developing and maintaining a webpage on NLS website;
Liaising with the JSW Foundation for regular updates and review of documents as required;
Maintaining detailed records and proper accounts of the Centre’s activities;
Managing fellowship programmes that the Centre may establish
A. Qualifications
Essential:
A Master’s degree in any discipline
Desirable:
A Master’s degree in law or social sciences or public policy.
B. Experience
Essential:
5-8 years of work experience in research and/or project management roles.
A proven ability to collaborate with varied stakeholders.
Desirable:
Demonstrable experience in strategy roles preferably in Higher Educational Institutions.
Prior experience in the incubation of a research centre
C. Skills and Competencies
Excellent communication and writing skills
Strong execution rigour and operational skills.
Strong presentation and time management skills
How to apply?
Please use the Google form here, and include the following documents:
An updated CV
A statement of purpose (500 – 800 words)
1 sole authored writing sample – published/unpublished
Contact details and designation of two professional references
Compensation
Salary will be commensurate with qualification and experience and will be in the range of Rs. 70,000 – 90,000 per month.
For any queries, please write to
Deadline
The last date to submit applications has been extended to Monday, January 13, 2025 (5 pm).
NLSIU invites interested persons to offer Elective Courses at the University in the third trimester (March 4, 2025 to May 23, 2025) of the Academic Year 2024-25.
An elective course at NLSIU requires 40 hours of classroom engagement. These courses may be delivered in the following format:
Full Term Elective with 40 hours of classroom engagement spread across 10 weeks (March 4, 2025 to May 23, 2025). All classes of full-term elective courses shall be conducted in-person on campus. On request, the University may support Visiting Faculty with an Academic Associate to assist with the delivery of the course.
Elective Courses vary in their focus and pedagogy. Three types of Elective Courses are common at NLSIU:
Taught Course (predominantly lecture/discussion based, with an exam);
Research Course (focused on review of primary and secondary research leading to a Term Paper);
Practice or Clinical Course (focused on field work, simulation, drafting or litigation exercises examined through the clinical methods).
All classes shall be held between 9 AM and 7 PM on weekdays only.
The University will reimburse one economy-class airfare, to-and-fro from Bengaluru for domestic flights only. The University will make necessary arrangements for accommodation for individuals selected to teach electives after mutual discussion for 10 days only. The University will not be able to provide any reimbursement for international flights.
Individuals who are desirous of teaching elective courses at NLSIU must invariably possess a graduate and post-graduate degree in law or the Social Sciences. Post-qualification experience of 3 years or more will be preferred. Alternatively, they may have at least 7-10 years of post-qualification experience in legal practice. Individuals who have published widely in their fields of expertise, shall be preferred.
To apply, kindly fill out the form here. The last date to submit the form has been extended to January 25, 2025.
Your proposal shall be reviewed by the Academic Review Committee (ARC) of the University. The course shall be finalised after registration of choices by students. Please note that a course is offered only if it meets: (1) the approval of the ARC, and (2) a minimum number of students as required by the University’s Academic Regulations subscribe for the course.
For any academic queries please contact Prof. Harisankar K Sathyapalan at . For any other queries, please contact Ms. Sneha Kumari at
FAQs
Here are some FAQs that will help you gain a better understanding of the electives courses and the process for applying to teach these courses. To know more, please click here.
The MK Nambyar Chair on Constitutional Law is pleased to announce that Dr. Shaunna Rodrigues, Core Lecturer in Contemporary Civilization at Columbia University’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, will be delivering a lecture based on her paper titled ‘Constitutionalism as the Language of Politics in India: Fraternity as the Key to Democracy.’ The lecture is scheduled for 19th December from 3:50 pm-5:00 pm.
If you are interested in attending this event, please fill out this form.
Abstract of the Paper
Across elite and popular sites of democratic constitutionalism’s moment of creation in India, democracy was viewed as a mode of participation in shaping common laws, norms, and the life of a political community. However, there was also an understanding that this practice of democracy could progress in a postcolonial democracy like India if and when its diverse participants actively knew one another.
Political thinkers like B.R. Ambedkar and Abul Kalam Azad captured this principle of knowing others in order to enable greater participation in democracy through the concept of fraternity. In addition to identifying communication and association as valuable tools for building fraternity in India, they also systematically reflected on the moral and ethical frameworks needed in Indian public life to enable the deepening of knowledge of others in Indian democracy. These moral and ethical frameworks did not operate through secular conceptions of toleration. Instead, they employed non-secular yet plural frameworks, driven by a reconstruction of Buddhist and Islamic conceptions of fraternity, which emphasized identifying one’s own good in the good of others by sharing in and understanding the vital processes of their lives.
This paper outlines how their ideas of fraternity contribute to both elite and popular interpretations of constitutionalism as democracy unfolds in India to justify why knowledge of one another enables greater participation, and thus progress, in postcolonial Indian democracy. Further, it compares their conception of fraternity to Hindutva’s conceptions of the political community to assess the effectiveness of the former as a democratic counter to the latter’s majoritarianism in constitutionalism’s current moment of crisis in India. Finally, it assesses if and how overlaps and divergences between epistemically different non-secular conceptions of fraternity have implications for a pluralist conception of democracy in India.
About the Speaker
Dr. Shaunna Rodrigues is a Core Lecturer at the Core Curriculum in Contemporary Civilization, and the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, New York. She is a political theorist who uses historical methods to study how anticolonial ideas shape constitutionalism and the trajectories of democracy in postcolonial societies. She is currently working on her upcoming book, Anticolonial Constitutionalism: Fraternity, Progress, and Self-Respect in Indian Democracy. She has a BA in Economics from St.Stephens College, New Delhi, an M.A. in Political Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies from Columbia University, New York.
Excerpts from the talk
On Constitutionalism in India
“Why and how does constitutionalism sustain itself as the primary language of politics in democratic India? I will argue that it does so because it is constantly being reconstructed in and through Indian democracy while grounding itself in sustained justifications produced for it during India’s anti colonial movement. Other scholars have argued that justifications for constitutionalism in India have relied on ideas of nationalism, secularism, freedom, and rights. In contrast, I will argue that secularism, freedom, and rights, while important, have, more often than not, been justifications employed by the Indian state to further its interpretation of constitutionalism in India. Unlike the Indian state, justifications for constitutionalism emerging from India’s people have not necessarily always employed secularism, freedom, or even nationalism as normative goals or realistic grounds for popular understandings of constitutionalism. Instead, justifications for constitutionalism emerging from the people in India have been shaped by ideas of self respect, progress, and fraternity. My presentation today will focus on fraternity as a major justification for constitutionalism in Indian democracy.”
On Abul Kalam Azad and Bhimrao Ambedkar conceptualization of ‘fraternity’
“I will proceed to show how figures like Abul Kalam Azad and Bhimrao Ambedkar conceptualized fraternity as an anti colonial response to representative secularism. Both Azad and Ambedkar’s systematic and anti colonial reflections on fraternity provide Indian democracy with enduringly relevant answers to how and why fraternity acts as an important justification of constitutionalism. I use their overlapping but distinct conceptions of fraternity to explore why fraternity is important for progress in India, where progress is imagined as a deepening of accumulated learning between and of different groups of people in Indian society. Simply put, fraternity as knowing the other has enabled progress in India because it deepens democracy by sustaining a pluralist political imaginary.”
“Abul Kalam Azad strongly believed that laws and the founding principles that laws would be grounded in ought to be substantiated by universal ideas so that they would appeal to a wide diversity of people. However, he critiqued the construction of universality by and around principles of liberalism alone and argued instead that universal principles could be drawn from other sources, including those that thrived in India prior to British imperial rule… According to him, fraternity comprised two things. First, it referred to social solidarity that allowed people to reach out to the other, understand the other, and side with the other despite their differences. Second, fraternity referred to the familiarity that different people felt with each other because of the assumptions they share about important involvements in common life despite their differences.”
“Ambedkar identified Buddhism’s emphasis on learning about others who shared one’s world as a practice of fraternity. Ambedkar defined fraternity using J.S. Mill who wrote of fraternity as a natural sentiment when an individual came to identify himself with the good of others. But he also added an additional meaning to this liberal utilitarian conception of fraternity. He asserted that fraternity is not preaching that we are children of god or the realization that one’s life is dependent on mothers. Two ideals that Ambedkar’s political rival, Mahatma Gandhi, consistently preached. Instead, the condition for growth of the sentiment of fraternity lies in sharing the vital processes of life. So I’m going to quote him here: “Fraternity strengthens social ties and gives to each individual a stronger personal interest in practically consulting the welfare of others. It leads him to identify his feelings more and more with their good or at least with any, you know, with an even greater degree of practical consideration for it. With the disposition to fraternity, he comes as to instructively to be conscious of himself as being one who, of course, pays regard to others.””
“I want to put forward a critical conception of progress that emerges from these two ideas of fraternity. Such a conception of progress is marked by the deepening of democracy that is aided in many moments by technological innovation and material expansion, but not defined by these indicators. What is central to this second conception of progress is the deepening of democracy within a polity through its enablement of emancipation from hierarchy. Such a conception of progress upholds the promise of inclusive participation, not only by making political institutions more representative of particularly diverse identities, but also by empowering a form of social learning across diverse groups within a polity. Progress driven by collective learning across different groups of each other’s norms, interests, pasts, and aspirations allows for diverse world views to be brought into the public domain and employed in the articulation of common political principles… This critical conception of progress grounding in learning from each other could produce an antidote to majoritarian conceptions of fraternity that also influence democracy in India.”
“For majoritarian conceptions of fraternity, loyalty is of utmost importance. Loyalty to what? Predominantly to a conception of the nation. However, Ambedkar’s argument, when combined with Azad’s argument, gives us a counter conception of fraternity where fraternity enables progressing together by associating with the goods of others who are different from others because we are part of a political community.”
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About Prof. Varottil
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