Beyond tradition and modernity retired, mr adam field manage acknowledge soas research online a free database of the latest research by soas academics and phd students. Colonial indecision and the origins of the hindu joint. The first part focuses on the historical and conceptual background of hindu law, while the second part concentrates on five facets of hindu law that go beyond tradition and modernity, namely the hindu marriage law, child marriage, polygamy, divorce, and the maintenance law. In this context, it has become necessary to examine whether the codified hindu law, applicable to around 80 per cent of our population, has helped to bring about social transformation and change gender relationships. Comparative law in a global context the legal systems of asia and africa. Hindu law beyond tradition and modernity 1st edition. It is perfectly possible to base a liberal indian state on hindu political philosophy and tradition. The chapter also discusses the traditional protective framework and the.
Postmodern hindu law 37 the perceived decline of hindu law and its postmodern reincarnation 38 the key arguments of the study 49 moving towards a postmodern condition of legal regulation 59 3. Though there are several ethnic communities in india, the three groups constitute major and primary traditions of the indian society. It examines the wide field of traditional hindu laws on maintenance for divorced or abandoned wives, in order to learn to what extent hindu women were effectively protected within the traditional framework. The examples of the sari wearing woman driver and singers idea of compart. This made it easier to experiment with new experiences, processes and products singer 1972.
This chapter discusses the maintenance law, which is considered critically important for hindu women and children. Traditional hindu law in the guise of postmodernism. Polygamy itself was hardly a big issue within the traditional system. He argues that the indian society also contains traditions of islam and tribals.
Has the codified hindu law changed gender relationships. Yogendra singh has defined indian society and its traditions with reference to hierarchy, holism, transmigration or continuity and transcendence. The conflict between tradition and modernity, on the other hand, is between two forms of vyavahara, one which prevailed in premodern india and one which modern india has borrowed from the west, or between two different systems of prav. University press scholarship online oxfordscholarship. Menski w f, 2012, hindu law beyond tradition and modernity, oxford university press, pgs.
Beyond tradition and modernity this book presents a study on a postmodernist analysis of classical hindu law, which has. Modernity, postmodernity and neosociological theories. An introduction by john witte, jr and frank s alexander. Academic analysis needs to go beyond placative assertions concerning hindu law and its position between tradition and modernity. Legal history i1 objectives law nujs kolkata wb national. The hindu marriage act is an act of the parliament of india enacted in 1955.
Traditional hindu law in the guise of semantic scholar. In fact, they can feed positively on each other and can thrive in the same creative cauldron. The resultant complex human construction of hindu law has become a reality in its own right, even an officially recognized legal fact, and yet it involves a massive distortion of social reality. Why accepting indias hindu fundamentals will help the. I always feel that modernity can exist within a tradition. Hindu law beyond tradition and modernity menski oxford. It is considered to symbolise the spirit of hindu law and is not the source of any positivist command as such.
Marylin johnson raisch is the librarian for international and foreign law at the john wolff international and comparative law library of the georgetown law center. The internally selfcontradictory not to say schizophrenic nature of such. Part of strdharma or conduct appropriate for women. Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophical reflections on the nature of law discovered in ancient and medieval era indian texts.
Director, university of adelaide research unit for the study of society, law and. This book contends that contrary to those who proclaimed it dead, hindu law remains a complex living system that has reached a condition of postmodernity and that, along with hindu custom and cultural concepts, it continues to play an integral role in legal developments today. Yogendra singh, in his book modernization of indian tradition, identifies three major streams of traditions in indian society, namely, hindu, muslim and tribal. Advocated as the fourth major approach to legal theory, this model is applied in analysing the historical and conceptual development of hindu law, muslim law, african laws and. G c v subba rao s family law in india download ebook pdf. Hindu law and the debate about reform yet not all was by design.
The role of law in hinduism and the value of law as a category of hindu studies have been underestimated. The materials within the realm of classical hindu law, relevant to this exercise are the sruti, smriti, and acara. Emphasizing the household, the family, and everyday relationships as additional social locations of law, it contends that law itself can be understood as a theology of ordinary life. Hindu law is about, as a legal system as well as a conceptual entity. Most hindu women of course adjust to the modern situation with relative ease, but the fact is worth mentioning. This book presents a study on a postmodernist analysis of classical hindu law, which has. After making an initial case for the connection of dharma and law in the treatises on religious and legal duty known as dharmasastra, this essay examines the role of dharma as law in other hindu texts in order to show the possible horizons of understanding yielded by an. This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a book.
Mishra r, 2 011, hindu jurisprudence on succession and gender. Werner menski, hindu law beyond tradition and modernity oxford university press, 2008. Request pdf on aug 1, 2014, randy lippert and others published boucock cary, in the grip of freedom. A gender perspective 279 work sphere, that is relatively free from customary norms and ritual restrictions. Sruti comprises of the vedas, brahmanas, aranyakas and the upanishads. Three other important acts were also enacted as part of the hindu code bills during this time. The spirit of hindu law uses the hindu legal tradition as a heuristic tool to question this view and reveal the close linkage between law and religion.
It is due to the abovementioned problems that the digest and commentaries were established and various schools of hindu law started to give birth. University press scholarship online oxford scholarship. This intensively researched book argues that hindu law is an essentially flexible and constantly evolving system, that scholars have wrongly. Hindu law beyond tradition and modernity 22 the structure of the study 29 2. The conflict between tradition and modernity in india. The hindu law of inheritance amendment act, 1929 the hindu marriage disabilities removal act, 1946 the hindu married womens right to separate residence and maintenance act, 1946 the hindu widows remarriage act, 1856 the hindu womens rights to property extension to agricultural land act, 1943. The exploration of indian legal history is meant to be a study of an independent body of laws belonging to both hindu and muslim legal thought in. Menski argues for combining modern natural law theories with positivist and sociolegal traditions, building an interactive, triangular concept of legal pluralism. Hinduism as a legal tradition journal of the american. Werner menskis recent monograph on hindu law is a provocative and welcome contribution to the often bewildering complexity of the classical, colonial, and postcolonial forms of hindu law. Download citation hindu law beyond tradition and modernity.
Traditional values and modernization challenges in forming urban and rural culture 25 when, on the other hand, we face the nondialectic conception of tradition, when we become witnesses of its abuse, then it takes over traditionalism significances, by getting a predominantly negative connotation. The chapter discusses the traditional hindu law of marriage, which is placed within the proper conceptual framework. Hindu law beyond tradition and modernity 9780195699210. Yogendra singh contribution towards indian society and traditions. The modern sources of hindu law such as justice, equity and good conscience have been critiqued on the grounds that it paves the way for personal opinions and beliefs of judges to be made into law. Chapter iii religion, culture, tradition and modernity under indian milieu nayantara sahgal, as a novelist, is consistently concerned with religion, culture, tradition and modernity and her undiminished fictional treatment of religion, culture, tradition and modernity under the indian milieu is of great literary and social value. Pondicherry customary hindu law bare acts database uploaddownload. Antecedents and concepts of 71 traditional hindu law. Finally, it must be said that tradition and modernity are not always contrarian values, as the selfproclaimed custodians of indian culture would have us believe.