Lecture at PU declassifies generations of constitutional studies to mark Constitution Day

In an event to commemorate the Constitution Day, Professor K K Kailash of University of Hyderabad presented a lecture on ‘generations of constitutional studies in India’ at the Department of Political Science in Panjab University.

In his lecture, Professor Kailash classified academic literature on the topic into four generations and highlighted the thematically distinct character of each one in terms of their research focus. The first generation of literature on the constitution reading was legalistic, descriptive and morphological burdened by the constitutional history of India.

The professor attempted to read the Indian constitution in terms of colonial, legal and constitutional reforms, the evolution of norms and conventions, and procedures after its commencement. These texts also entailed the comparison of the Indian constitution with the liberal constitutions of older democracies. The second generation of the studies focused on the social, cultural and political milieu that shaped the minds of the constitution-makers. It also focused on the ideological strands that influenced the making of the constitution. An attempt was also made to relate the foundational principles enshrined in the constitution to the principles that guided the nationalist movement in India. The third generation focused on the ensuing debates about some of the constitutional provisions related to secularism, affirmative action, rights, asymmetric federalism, citizenship, welfare and role of the state, among others, from a political sociological perspective. The fourth and the current generation of studies brought forth the views of the graduates of national law schools of India, who are trained both in law as well as social sciences. They bring the legal dimension but unlike the first dimension are conscious of the fact that law has to be situated in the political and social context.