CCF214 | India’s Constitutional Founding: Forgotten Histories and New Horizons

In an influential 2010 essay the political theorist Pratap Bhanu Mehta sharply lamented that “…despite the centrality of the Constitution to our social and political life, it has been ill -served by our historical imagination… with a handful of exceptions, there is no serious or deep historiography associated with our Constitution, one that can put it in proper historical and philosophical perspective…”

Taking this as a cue—or perhaps coincidentally—the floodgates of scholarship were opened. Over the following decade and a half, interest in India’s constitutional founding surged across the social sciences and humanities. New archival materials were tracked down, forgotten people, places, and events were unearthed, canonical historical accounts were reassessed, and new directions of enquiry were mapped. Page 2 of 9 offers a collaborative forum to engage and contribute to this vibrant, expanding body of scholarship.

The course begins by exploring the significance of constitutional history and the value of an interdisciplinary lens towards understand India’s constitutional origins. It situates Indian constitution-making within the broader global political and social contexts of the first half of the 20th century and introduces the mechanics of constitution-making.

With this foundation, students will engage with the ‘Indian Problem’ that shaped much of the discourse surrounding India from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. How could one envision a constitutional democratic future for a society as socially and economically stratified as India?

Various political actors and thinkers offered different perspectives and framings of the problem. Students will read speeches and writings by Indian leaders such as Nehru and Ambedkar, as well as British colonial thinkers like John Stuart Mill. They will also engage with recent scholarship on Indian political thought from 1900 to 1945.

The course frames the Indian Constitution not as the product of a singular “founding moment,” but as part of a longer constitution-making process that began in the early 1900s and culminated in the formal establishment and work of the Constituent Assembly. Students will read constitutional writings produced by gender and caste minorities, revolutionaries, communists, and other political groups. Students will engage with constitutionalism in the princely states and new archival evidence that suggests deep public participation and engagement with the Constituent Assembly. They will tackle debates about the Constitution’s origins, its transformative and revolutionary credentials, its colonial origins, and its silence on issues like partition violence. Finally, the course reflects on constitutional faith and mobilisation in contemporary India. Is constitutional faith sufficient for India to remain a constitutional democracy, or as the political theorist Sudipta Kaviraj recently asked, “Can the Constitution defend itself?”

The course is organized around primary materials and secondary literature. Primary materials include constitutional texts drafted by diverse individuals and groups between 1900-1950, as well as speeches and writings, including extracts from the Constituent Assembly Debates.

The secondary readings will primarily consist of journal articles and book chapters/excerpts. This is an advanced, interdisciplinary course that builds on the core constitutional law courses taken by law students and the foundational constitution courses completed by MPP students. It also offers an opportunity for students to deploy their learning from core social science course they have completed, towards the study of India’s constitutional founding.

The course is seminar-style and research-focused, requiring students to engage deeply with pre-assigned readings. Class sessions will provide a space for students to share their analysis, pursue interesting lines of inquiry, and collaboratively and critically evaluate the arguments presented in the primary materials and secondary literature. The course instructor will organize and facilitate discussions. The course’s evaluation elements including response papers and a term paper will encourage students to internalize and apply classroom learnings and discussions effectively