Women’s Rights and Justice: Theory and Praxis by Nandini Basistha

The Book

Right exercise of rights depends upon the beholder. Or, in other words, the perception of rights is subjective. Although all human beings exercise ‘equal’ rights according to the laws of most countries of the world, but, in practical level, it varies according to time, area, status and obviously gender. In social milieu, a women mind nurtured such a way that sometimes it even can’t recognize the fact that her rights are encroached and she is enduring injustice. That’s why when an intelligent girl child barred from higher education and forced to get married, she most of the time do not understand that she ‘also’ has Right to Education. Most of the times a women count everyday domestic violence as ‘natural in a family’. Even molestation she tolerates and does not report any legal case to protect her ‘prestige’. So, in a nutshell, one can say what we see in theory as ‘rights’ and ‘justice’, is not applicable in praxis or reality. This debate is the main crux of this book.

In this book, we will try to analyse how rights and justice of women are conceptualized and their practicality.   

This book is an outcome of collective research work done by various researchers on the contemporary theory and praxis of women rights and justice in Indian scenario. In twenty-six essays, authors collectively explored situation of women in several domains including the rights of women in India, legal framework, real situation, change in time of Covid 19 pandemic period; their manifestation in public policies, domestic arena, literature and other spheres.

I believe that this collection of essays can become a benchmark for the future as well as spur new research agendas and projects that will put the region into a much-needed conversation on the recent trends of women rights and justicein India.

The volume is essential reading for social scientists, bureaucrats and non-governmental political activists interested in rights and justiceof women. It will also appeal to public policy analysts and feminist scholars who have yet to adopt the contribution of critical development studies in the analysis of different dimensions of female rights and liberties.

The Editor

Dr. Nandini Basistha (b. 1982) is working as Assistant Professor at Amity Institute of Liberal Arts, Amity University, Mumbai. She is also Executive Director (Honorary) of Indian Institute of Human Security & Governance, Delhi. Previously, she was ICSSR Post-Doctoral Fellow at Centre for North East Study and Policy Research, JamiaMiliaIslamia; Assistant Professor of South Asian Studies, Kurukshetra University; Senior Fellow at Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, Calcutta University; and UGC-SRF and UGC-JRF at Rajiv Gandhi Chair in Contemporary Studies, University of Allahabad. She authored Politics of Separatism (New Delhi: Vaibhav Publications, 2018); edited Women Empowerment & Welfare: Recent Issues & Trends(New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2021); co-edited Changing Dimensions of Social Justice in New Global Era (New Delhi: Pentagon Press, 2012) and published research articles in 30 internationally-reputed journals and books in English, Bengali, Portuguese etc. She has presented papers at 45seminars in India, United Kingdom, and Singapore. She is Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Bio Sciences and Technology (IJBST), non-profit peer-reviewed open access International Journal. She has expertise in South Asian Studies, Identity Politics, Gender Studies and International Relations.