Agitation to Legislation

Description

The past few years have seen the street emerge as one of the most volatile and engaging sites of a politics in flux. Mass protests, widespread networks, and quick mobilization in the age of social media have instilled a new life in protests and agitations, engendering an entirely new brand of rights agenda in India today. Grassroots activism along with organized, collective action has influenced several landmark legislations, often resulting in progressive outcomes and policies.
Agitation to Legislation finds that such a progression is not so sudden. It examines ways in which social mobilizations influence legislative trajectory, opening up modes of direct engagement between the state and its citizens, between the government and the governed. It simultaneously focuses on political actors and processes that help expand rights and accountability and at the same time resist any attempt to increase representation of under-represented groups. Positive outcomes have depended on political responses and party strategies, either appropriating or reinforcing or disregarding the scale and intensity of public protests and collective action.

About the Author
Zoya Hasan is Professor Emerita, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Social Activism, Political Processes, and Rights Legislation
2. Anti-corruption Campaign and the Politics of the Lokpal
3. Mobilization and Opposition to Gender Quotas in Legislatures
Conclusion
Index
About the Author