Introduction to the Special Issue: Hindutva and the Rule(s) of Law
| Published date | 01 October 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09646639241268677 |
| Author | M. Sudhir Selvaraj,Raphael Susewind |
| Date | 01 October 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue: The Rule(s) of Law under HindutvaEdited by M. Sudhir Selvaraj, University of Bradford, UK and Raphael Susewind, London School of Economics, UKArticles |
Introduction to the Special
Issue: Hindutva and the
Rule(s) of Law
M. Sudhir Selvaraj
University of Bradford, United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland
Raphael Susewind
London School of Economics and Political Science,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland
Abstract
India is increasingly described as an ‘ethnic democracy’,‘populist majoritarian autocracy’
or ‘ethnocracy’: a form of rule supported by an electoral majority rooted in ethnic affili-
ation, with limited and eroding checks and balances that would protect minorities. Over
the past decade, constitutional arrangements shifted, ‘dog-whistle’laws were passed and
legal institutions starved of resources. In studying these developments, we want to
ground generic studies of populist/majoritarian/autocratic law by unpacking the specific
Indian version of it: how does Hindutva as a political ideology and the current dispen-
sation as political agents conceive of the rule of law, its purpose and function? Which
rules do they want the law to follow? We combine papers that trace Hindutva’s own
ideological commitments with those tracking material changes in legislation or jurispru-
dence and map out their differential consequences for India’s minorities, culminating in a
wider reflection on the rule(s) of law under autocratic circumstances.
Keywords
Hindutva, India, violence, anti-conversion laws, structural violence
Corresponding author:
Raphael Susewind, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
Email: r.susewind@lse.ac.uk
Article
Social & Legal Studies
2024, Vol. 33(5) 683–689
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/09646639241268677
journals.sagepub.com/home/sls
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