MOMENTS OF DECOLONISATION IN INDIAN WOMEN’S NAVIGATIONS OF INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT

Abstract

In India decoloniality in law has been a movement of decolonising the state law. Stepping away from the perception of decolonialising as a legislative project, this paper argues for decoloniality of law to be explored as a thought process, that lies embedded with state-society relations in postcolonial India. Against the canvas of the vividly plural legal landscape, this contribution explores how individuals juxtapose legal institutions and legal orders in different permutations and combinations in pursuit of their ideas of justice and order unravelling a decoloniality of thought and process that rests within the unique contexts of every conflict. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the city of Mumbai, women’s experiences with conflict remain at the centre of this paper to help explore the notion of decoloniality in law.