The counter-hegemonic potential of law: from the Wilkinson’s Rules to the Pathalgadi movement in India

Abstract

Abstract: Il potenziale controegemonico del diritto: dalle Wilkinson’s Rules al movimento Pathalgadi in India – The paper analyses diachronically the policies of control of legal pluralism on the part of the British colonizers in the Chotanagpur Plateau in India and their codification of customary norms. Drawing from the results of the fieldwork conducted in that area, it will be argued how indigenous Adivasi communities consider colonial-era laws as part and parcel of Adivasi law. Indeed, these communities bend and use these provisions to advance claims for indigenous autonomy and counteract interference from state institutions. Moreover, starting from the failures of the legislative implementation of the 1996 Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), the paper will analyze the case of the Pathalgadi movement. The Pathalgadi proponents advocated self-determination of Adivasi communities and more power to the traditional village assembly mobilizing aspects of state law (especially, PESA) which ended up being a crucial site of counter-hegemonic resistance.