Nation and Family: Personal Law, Cultural Pluralism, and Gendered Citizenship in India

398 Pages·2014·7.56 MB·English

by  Narendra Subramanian

NATION A ND F AMILY

NAT ION A ND F A MILY
Personal Law, Cultural Pluralism,
and Gendered Citizenship in India
Narendra Subramanian
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2014 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Ju nior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written
permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free, archival- quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data has been requested.
ISBN 978-0-8047-8878-6
ISBN 978-0-8047-9090-1 (electronic)
Typeset by Westchester Book Ser vices in Adobe Garamond Pro Regular
For my parents,
K. S. Subramanian and V. Vasanthi Devi,
who initially drew my attention to family law

CONTENTS
Tables and Figures ix
Abbreviations xi
Ac know ledg ments xiii
1 Indian Personal Law: Toward a Comparative
Th eoretical Perspective 1
2 Nationalism, Recognition, and Family Formation 18
3 Offi cial Nationalism, Multiculturalism,
and Majoritarian Citizen Making: Th e Formation
of the Postcolonial Policy Frame 91
4 Recasting the Normative National Family:
Changes in Hindu Law and Commonly Applicable
Matrimonial Laws Since the 1960s 137
5 Minority Accommodation, Cultural Mobilization,
and Legal Practice: Th e Experiences of Muslim
Law and Christian Law 199
6 Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and Personal Law 266
viii contents
Notes 289
References 321
Index 361
TABLES A ND F IGURES
TABLES
1.1 Nature of Change in Personal Law Soon After
Ind ep end ence/Regime Change 6
1.2 Eff ects of Changes in Personal Law Since the 1970s on
Women’s Rights and Individual Autonomy 7
2.1 Infl uences on Multiculturalism and Personal Law 47
2.2 Features of Community Discourses and State- Society
Relations Th at Infl uence One Another 47
2.3 Regime Type and Change in Personal Law 57
2.4 Policy Regarding Minority Personal Law 66
2.5 Nationalist Discourses and Personal Law 71
FIGURES
2.1 Discourses of Community, State- Society Relations,
and Personal Law 46