Description
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Hindu Family And The Emergence Of Modern India by Eleanor Newbigin
Between 1955 and 1956 the Government of India passed four Hindu Law Acts to reform and codify Hindu family law. Scholars have understood these acts as a response to growing concern about womens rights but in a powerful rereading of their history this book traces the origins of the Hindu law reform project to changes in the politicaleconomy of late colonial rule. The Hindu Family and the Emergence of Modern India considers how questions regarding family structure property rights and gender relations contributed to the development of representative politics and how in solving these questions Indias secular and state power structures were consequently drawn into a complex and unique relationship with Hindu law. In this comprehensive and illuminating resource for scholars and students Newbigin demonstrates the significance of gender and economy to the history of twentiethcentury democratic government as it emerged in India and beyond.