Xiaoping Cong, Marriage, Law, and Gender in Revolutionary China, 1940 1960, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. 346. $31.99 paper (ISBN 9781316602614)
formation of the citizen. Second, by emphasizing the radical nature of the break inaugurated by the postcolonial republic, a larger question arises about the writing of constitutional history itself. In the way De analyzes his four cases, he makes a persuasive case for considering how a citizen's litigation eventually influenced the changing of the postcolonial regulatory order. However, in the absence of any sustained attention to the politics of this period, we are only left with a constitutional history albeit enriched with a social history of the actors that ultimately privileges faith in the judiciary and its associated institutions. But what gives rise to this faith? Is it an innate belief in the rule of law or is it the legacy of a long political struggle that straddles the colonial and postcolonial eras that has given rise to this litigant citizen? Therefore, can we write constitutional histories without adequately considering the history of the political struggle that perhaps went into making this sphere of active litigation possible? The decision to view the constitutional developments in the postcolonial period sui generis may only provide a partial account of India's robust "litigious" citizenship that De has otherwise wonderfully highlighted. In sum, De's contribution will be discussed for a long time to come. For its appeal to scholars across a wide range of disciplines, such as history, political science, law, and anthropology, to mention a few, and for its unique archival sources as well as its novel methodological approach, the book will be very valuable. Above all, the central contention of the book will lead to vibrant debates among readers and scholars, especially on the question of whether or not the Indian constitution is indeed A People's Constitution. For this reason alone, this book is a "must read."
Law and History Review