Publisher's Synopsis
Subversive Sites explores the complex role of law in feminist struggles for social change in India. After a review of the history of women′s struggles with law, the authors examine a range of legal regulation, including family, labour and constitutional law. Particular attention is paid to the role of familial ideology in the legal regulation of women, and the ways in which this ideology continues to undermine efforts to engage with the law are revealed. Drawing on a broad range of recent theoretical developments, including feminist legal studies, poststructuralism and cultural studies, the book argues that law is a site of struggle in which competing visions of gender, family, culture and tradition are fought out.
The authors also consider some of the many contemporary challenges that feminist engagement with law must increasingly confront, including the impact of the new economic policies and the rise of the Hindu Right. Finally the book explores the emancipatory potential of law by suggesting particular strategies for engaging with law.
