THE  CENTRE  FOR  WOMEN,  LAW  

AND  SOCIAL  CHANGE

of  Jindal  Global  University,  in  conjunction  with  the  Australian  National  University
Presents  the  conference

FEMINISMS  OF  DISCONTENT:    

GLOBAL  CONTESTATIONS
Debates  on  Gender  and  the  Law

February  18-­20,  2011

Vivanta  by  Taj,  (Ambassador),  New  Delhi

Feminist  Theory  in  India,  including  Feminist  Legal  Theory,  draws  from  many  sources,  including  
postcolonial  theory,  critical  legal  theory,  and  other  perspectives  from  the  so-­called  ‘developing  
world’.  As  such,  there  exists  a  profound  opportunity  for  a  conference  to  explore  the  tensions  and  
commonalities  among  Feminisms  across  a  range  of  geographical  and  disciplinary  divides  and  
theoretical  perspectives.  The  Feminisms  of  Discontent  Conference  seeks  to  facilitate  a  dialogue  
in  this  space.

The   Conference   is   being   held   by   the   Centre   for   Women,   Law,   and   Social   Change   (CWLSC)   ofJindal   Global   Law   School  
(JGLS)  in  Haryana,  India.  The  CWLSC  was  established  in  furtherance  of  JGLS’s  commitment  to  furthering  studies  related  
to  gender-­related  rights  and  theory  in  legal  academia  in  India.  The  CWLSC  seeks  to  provide  an  institutional  framework  to  
promote  collaborative  research  projects  with  Indian  and  foreign  partners  addressing  cutting  edge  gender  issues  from  an  
interdisciplinary  and  inter-­jurisdictional  perspective.  The  CWLSC  is  holding  the  Conference  in  continuance  of  this  goal.

Corporate  Sponsors
 PROGRAMME
FRIDAY  EVENING,  18  FEBRUARY,  2011
Venue:  Vivanta  by  Taj  (Ambassador)
Sujan  Singh  Park,  Subramania  Bharati  Marg,  New  Delhi

6:00  pm  -­  6:30  pm   Informal  Tea  

6:30  pm  -­  6:45  pm   Welcome
6:45  pm  -­  8:15  pm   OPENING  PANEL:  CONTEMPORARY  CHALLENGES  TO  DOING  FEMINISM  
AND  LAW
  Focus:  Has  feminism  run  out  of  steam  as  a  viable  analytical  political  project?  While  terms  such  
as  “gender  justice”,  “access  to  justice  for  women”,  or  “women  and  law”  continue  to  be  the  focus  of  
feminist  activism  and  legal  reform  projects,  the  political  project  appears  to  be  in  crisis.  Appropriation  
of  the  project  by  the  religious  right  as  well  as  neo-­liberalism  has  left  the  project  without  a  political  
vision  or  a  distinct  political  mooring.  At  the  same  time  there  is  a  sense  of  nostalgia  for  a  past,  a  
longing   for   the   “golden   era”   of   feminism,   when   it   was   engaged   with   law   while   also   advancing   a  
political  vision  of  transformation.  The  panel  engages  with  the  despair  that  has  overtaken  the  ranks  
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the  project  move  from  a  space  of  imminent  demise  to  a  place  of  intellectual  salience?  How  does  
feminism  remain  relevant  in  the  legal  arena  (domestic  and  international),  the  law  classroom  and  in  
legal  scholarship?
  Participants:
  Brenda  Cossman  (Professor,  Faculty  of  Law,  University  of  Toronto)
  Ratna   Kapur   (Faculty,   Geneva   School   of   Diplomacy   and   International   Relations,   Visiting  
Professor,  Jindal  Global  Law  School)
  Uma  Narayan  (Professor,  Department  of  Philosophy,  Vassar  College)
  Moderator:    Oishik  Sircar,  (Assistant  Professor,  Jindal  Global  University)

8:15  pm   Dinner

SATURDAY  19  FEBRUARY  2011

Venue:  Vivanta  by  Taj  (Ambassador)
Sujan  Singh  Park,  Subramania  Bharati  Marg,  New  Delhi

9:00  pm  -­  9:30  pm   Breakfast

9:30  pm  -­  11:00  pm   PANEL  II:  GENDER,  NEO-­LIBERALISM  AND  `GOOD  GOVERNANCE’  
  Focus:   In   what   ways   have   rule   of   law   and   good   governance   projects   that   facilitate   the   market,  
impacted  on  the  construction  of  gender?  Sexuality?  Culture?  And  understandings  of  family?  How  
has  the  neoliberal  development  agenda  worked  to  reinforce  gendered  roles  and  inequality  in  the  
workforce  and  household?  How  has  the  rhetoric  associated  with  seemingly  ‘progressive’  endeavors,  
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economic  growth?  
  Participants:  
  Kerry  Rittich  (Associate  Professor,  Faculty  of  Law,  and  Women’s  and  Gender  Studies  Institute,  
University  of  Toronto)
  Shirin  Rai  (Professor,  Department  of  Politics  and  International  Studies,  University  of  Warwick)
  Margaret  Thornton  (Professor  of  Law,  Australian  National  University)
  Moderator:  Pallavi  Kishore  (Assistant  Professor,  Jindal  Global  Law  School)
11:00pm  -­  11:15pm   Coffee/Tea
11:15pm  -­  12:45pm   PANEL  III:  CONTESTING  LIBERAL  EQUALITY  AND  GENDER
  Focus:  The  panel  focuses  on  a  central  plank  of  feminist  politics,  namely  the  struggle  for  equality.  
In   what   ways   have   feminist   pursuits   brought   about   more   equality   in   women’s   lives?   Or   has   the  
struggle  for  equality  produced  more  law  and  invited  greater  regulation  into  women’s  lives  rather  
than  transformation?  Can  we  think  through  other  ways  in  which  to  engage  equality  and  the  state?  
or  is  the  entire  project  unredeemable,  destined  to  remain  nothing  more  than  another  ruse  of  power  
by  a  liberal  state?

  Participants:

  Rajeswari  Sunder  Rajan  (Professor,  Department  of  English,  New  York  University)

  Lakshmi  Arya  (Associate  Fellow,  The  Centre  for  the  Study  of  Culture  and  Society)

  Maneesha  Deckha  (Associate  Professor,  Faculty  of  Law,  University  of  Victoria)

  Moderator:      Amit  Bindal  (Assistant  Professor,  Jindal  Global  Law  School)

12:45pm  -­  1:45  pm   Lunch

1:45  pm  -­  3:15  pm   PANEL  IV:  PRODUCING  A  VICTIM  POLITICS  THROUGH  LAW
  Focus:  How  can  feminism  become  a  more  productive  legal  and  political  analytical  tool  that  does  
not   merely   reify   gendered   norms?   Can   subjectivity,   in   for   example   the   realms   of   sex   work,   the  
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exclusively  through  the  lens  of  violence?  

  Participants:  

  Kamala  Kempadoo  (Professor,  Department  of  Social  Science,  York  University)

  Vasuki  Nesiah  (Associate  Professor  of  Practice,  Gallatin  School,  New  York  University)

  Anagha  Tambe  (Lecturer,  University  of  Pune)

  Moderator:  Oishik  Sircar  (Assistant  Professor,  Jindal  Global  Law  School)

3:15  pm  -­  3:30  pm   Coffee/Tea

3:30  pm  -­  5:00  pm   PANEL   V:   QUEERING   OF   FEMINISM   OR   “TAKING   A   BREAK”   FROM  
FEMINISM
  Focus:   In   light   of   the   Naz   Foundation   decision   and   the   strides   being   made   in   legal   scholarship  
by   queer   scholars,   are   we   entering   an   era   of   `Queer   Politics’?   Should   feminism   cede   to   queer  
scholarship  in  the  search  for  new  ways  to  think  about  political  and  legal  transformation?  What  does  
“queer”  scholarship  have  to  offer  that  can  avoid  some  of  the  traps  that  have  produced  the  despair  in  
feminist  thinking?  How  can  the  “queer”  engage  law  in  ways  that  can  be  transformative?  Is  there  still  
work  that  needs  to  be  done  or  that  is  being  done  by  feminism?  Gender?  A  queer  feminism?  What  is  
the  “added  value”  of  queer  scholarship  and  how  can  it  avoid  being  yet  another  hegemonic  project  
and  retain  its  critical  edge,  especially  in  the  legal  arena?  

  Participants:  

  Brenda  Cossman  (Professor,  Faculty  of  Law,  University  of  Toronto)

  Shohini   Ghosh   (Professor,Sajjad   Zaheer   Chair,   AJK,   Mass   Communication   Research   Centre,  
Jamia  Millia  Islamia  University)

  Arvind  Narain  (Founder  member,  Alternative  Law  Forum)

  Brinda  Bose  (Associate  Professor  of  English,  Delhi  University)

  Moderator:    Dipika  Jain  (Assistant  Professor,  Jindal  Global  Law  School)  

 SUNDAY,  20  FEBRUARY  2011
Venue:  Vivanta  by  Taj  (Ambassador)
Sujan  Singh  Park,  Subramania  Bharati  Marg,  New  Delhi

10:00  pm-­  10:30   Breakfast

10:30-­12:00   PANEL  VI:  INCLUSIVE  REPRESENTATION:  GENDER,  FAITH  AND  THE  
POLITICS  OF  LAW    
  Focus:  The  session  seeks  to  generate  debate  on  the  issue  of  faith/religion  and  law  and  the  response  to  
this  concern  by  feminists  and  progressive  politics.  Some  responses  have  ranged  from  a  refusal  to  engage  
(as  religion  is  per  se  viewed  as  anti-­secular)  and  a  reassertion  of  a  liberal  vision  of  secularism,  to  simply  
proclaiming  the  death  of  secularism.  What  new  challenges  confront  feminism/progressive  thought  in  
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meaning  of  secularism?  How  does  this  entry,  particularly  salient  in  India  the  Ayodhya  verdict,  further  
exclude  religious  minorities  and  other  communities,  including  women,  from  the  equal  protection  of  
the   law   and   from   access   to   justice?   Is   there   space   for   religious   feminism?   Can   progressive   politics  
including  feminism  generate  a  response  beyond  merely  appealing  to  a  liberal  project  that  is  already  
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have  witnessed  in  the  contemporary  period  require  faith  to  be  taken  more  seriously  in  any  progressive  
political  vision  and  scholarship,  rather  than  be  dismissed,  or  viewed  in  opposition  to  secularism?
  Participants:  
  Neera  Chandhoke  (Professor,  University  of  Delhi,  and  Director  of  the  Developing  Countries  
Research  Centre)
  Vinay  Lal  (Professor,  Department  of  History,  Faculty  of  Social  Sciences,  University  of  Delhi)
  Smita  Sehgal  (Associate  Professor,  Lady  Sri  Ram  College)
  Aziza  Ahmed  (Assistant  Professor  of  Law,  Northeastern  University  School  of  Law)
  Moderator:  Kum  Kum  Sangari  (Professor  of  English)

12:00  –  12:20   Closing  Remarks  

12:30   Lunch
Afternoon   Activities  in  Delhi  (optional)