Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

The course will provide students with a foundation in law and society in Asia, as one of the most instrumental and dynamic areas of today's world. Our objective is to facilitate a critical understanding of how law operates in Asian societies, and to prepare students for future engagement with the legal systems of Asian countries in various professional contexts. The course will focus on South Asia, and particularly on India, considering the main aspects of the legal system and the protection of fundamental rights.

- Have acquired a sound knowledge of the Indian legal systems in its various components.

- Be able to evaluate the role of Indian legal, political and cultural spaces as means of achieving social change and social justice.

- Be able to illustrate how Indian law is embedded in social life and to identify the nexus between law and culture, identity, religion, economy, and politics.

- Have acquired a deeper knowledge of various social science approaches to research into Asian laws.

 

The course will deal with the following topics: 

- Understanding Asian legal traditions and the issue of Orientalim

- Legal pluralism in Asia: How do different formal and informal legal traditions co-exist and how do they interact with each other? 

- The Indian legal tradition: main concepts and historical evolution

- Colonialism in India: burden and impact on the contemporary Indian legal culture

- Contemporary Indian legal system: the Constitution and the protection of fundamental rights

- Hindu and Islamic personal laws in family matters: curent challenges and the debae on the Uniform Civil Code

- The Adivasi communities in India:  indigenous issues and development

Lectures with the support of powerpoint presentations and, on some topics, of short videos. Class discussion of cases.

The slides of the lectures and other materials will be uploaded on the Moodle platform. Students are therefore invited to sign up on the Moodle platform as any communication will be circulated via Moodle.

 

ATTENDANCE

In order to be considered as attending students, the students will have to attend 2/3 of classes, which means that students missing more than 6 classes overall will be automatically considered as non-attending students.

 

EXAM

Attending students:

The final mark for attending students will be composed as follows:

- 1/3 group presentation

- 2/3 final essay OR final oral exam

Group presentation: attending students will have to prepare a group presentation (2-5 students) on a  topic agreed with the teacher. Individual presentations could be admitted in specific circumstances. The assessment of the oral presentation will be communicated at the end of the course.

Final essay OR final oral exam: attending students can choose between the essay or the oral exam. 

If they opt for the essay, they will have to submit one paper (6000 words), at least 10 days before the date of the exam on which they intend to register the mark. Attending students will have to choose a topic that touches upon the issues covered during the course. Further information on the submission will be circulated during the course.

If they choose the oral exam, they will be tested on the materials indicated for attending students during the regular exam sessions.

 

Non-attending students:


Oral exam only, non-attending students’ materials

Please, refer to the Moodle page for texts and documents (attending and non-attending students)