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9781009330053

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'A splendid contribution showing that not just the constitutional elites, but the ordinary people are co-equal authors of the constitution. Brimming with comparative law and jurisprudence insights.' Upendra Baxi, University of Warwick 'A formidable provocation to the scholarship on India's constitutional history. This stirring book opens up an altogether different world of constitution-making, as De and Shani uncover an astonishing archive, showing how diverse publics – marginalized by geography and identity – made claims upon the constitution-making process, through collective deliberation and public engagement.' Niraja Jayal, King's College London 'Assembling India's Constitution would leave a reader in no doubt that India's constitution is a product of an iterative, dialogic, even agonistic engagement with, by, and between many Indian publics. Challenging simplistic and uninformed characterisations of the Constitution as elitist and colonial, De and Shani demonstrate--with characteristic rigour and an astonishing body of evidence--that the continuous making and remaking of India's constitution has been far more autochthonous and substantively democratic than many others which only formally satisfy the democratic checklist of enactment by directly elected assemblies or endorsement in popular referendums. Their attention to the engagement of pluralistic and collectivised 'publics' rather than a supposedly monolithic 'people' in the constitution-making process demands a serious rethink of the traditional constituent power theory. A must-read for anyone interested in democratic constitutionalism.' Tarun Khaitan, London School of Economics and Political Science 'Rohit De and Ornit Shani's Assembling India's Constitution: A new democratic history is a must-read for those interested in India's constitutional project. Its core argument is that to understand the genesis of the Indian Constitution it is important to move beyond the debates of the Constituent Assembly and to pay close attention to the how communities and ordinary people across India engaged with the drafting of the constitution. The book presents a rich tapestry of these interactions, describing how many of the 500 princely states adopted constitutional documents establishing forms of representative government; discussing the contributions received by the Constituent Assembly from associations of women, Dalits, upper and lower castes, and religious groups of every faith and denomination; outlining the contributions from provincial legislatures, the judiciary and the civil service, and finally reviewing the important demands made by some tribal communities. It is an engaging read that casts a valuable new light on the making of India's constitution.' Kate O'Regan, University of Oxford 'Assembling India's Constitution is an extended, carefully researched tribute to the perspicacity of India's civil society and its intellectual leaders as they considered the drafting of the Constitution in a time of turmoil.' Donald L. Horowitz, author of The Promise and Perils of Devolution: Federalism, Regional Autonomy, and Ethnic Conflict 'This is revisionist history at its best. De and Shani deploy not just a novel array of archival materials but also a new framework to think about the founding moment of the Indian republic. Their narrative of a hitherto unknown surge of public constitutionalism is compellingly readable and presented with verve. Their argument and its implications will set the terms for scholarly and public debates for years to come.' Srinath Raghavan, author of Indira Gandhi and the Years that Transformed India and professor of international relations and history, Ashoka University 'This breathtaking book reveals a forgotten world of public participation in the creation of India's Constitution. Rohit De and Ornit Shani show us that far more people contributed to India's constitutional order than we realized. I read Assembling India's Constitution with feelings of wonder and enchantment at the spirit and optimism of the thousands who demanded a role, but also a sense of heartbreak and foreboding with reference to those whose voices went unheard. This book will thrill and chill you.' Mitra Sharafi, University of Wisconsin Law School

'A splendid contribution showing that not just the constitutional elites, but the ordinary people are co-equal authors of the constitution. Brimming with comparative law and jurisprudence insights.' Upendra Baxi, University of Warwick 'A formidable provocation to the scholarship on India's constitutional history. This stirring book opens up an altogether different world of constitution-making, as De and Shani uncover an astonishing archive, showing how diverse publics - marginalized by geography and identity - made claims upon the constitution-making process, through collective deliberation and public engagement.' Niraja Jayal, King's College London 'Assembling India's Constitution would leave a reader in no doubt that India's constitution is a product of an iterative, dialogic, even agonistic engagement with, by, and between many Indian publics. Challenging simplistic and uninformed characterisations of the Constitution as elitist and colonial, De and Shani demonstrate - with characteristic rigour and an astonishing body of evidence - that the continuous making and remaking of India's constitution has been far more autochthonous and substantively democratic than many others which only formally satisfy the democratic checklist of enactment by directly elected assemblies or endorsement in popular referendums. Their attention to the engagement of pluralistic and collectivised 'publics' rather than a supposedly monolithic 'people' in the constitution-making process demands a serious rethink of the traditional constituent power theory. A must-read for anyone interested in democratic constitutionalism.' Tarun Khaitan, London School of Economics and Political Science 'Rohit De and Ornit Shani's Assembling India's Constitution: A new democratic history is a must-read for those interested in India's constitutional project. Its core argument is that to understand the genesis of the Indian Constitution it is important to move beyond the debates of the Constituent Assembly and to pay close attention to the how communities and ordinary people across India engaged with the drafting of the constitution. The book presents a rich tapestry of these interactions, describing how many of the 500 princely states adopted constitutional documents establishing forms of representative government; discussing the contributions received by the Constituent Assembly from associations of women, Dalits, upper and lower castes, and religious groups of every faith and denomination; outlining the contributions from provincial legislatures, the judiciary and the civil service, and finally reviewing the important demands made by some tribal communities. It is an engaging read that casts a valuable new light on the making of India's constitution.' Kate O'Regan, University of Oxford 'Assembling India's Constitution is an extended, carefully researched tribute to the perspicacity of India's civil society and its intellectual leaders as they considered the drafting of the Constitution in a time of turmoil.' Donald L. Horowitz, author of The Promise and Perils of Devolution: Federalism, Regional Autonomy, and Ethnic Conflict

Author Information

Rohit De is Associate Professor of History at Yale University. He is the author of A People's Constitution: The Everyday Life of Law in the Indian Republic (2018), which won the Willard J. Hurst Prize (2019). Ornit Shani is Associate Professor of Asian Studies at Haifa University. She is the author of How India Became Democratic: Citizenship and the Making of the Universal Franchise (2017), which won the Kamaladevi Chattophadyay New India Foundation Prize (2019).

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