India's Women Legal Academics: Who They are and Where You May Find Them

Abstract

Historically, women have been central to the shaping of Indian legal thought and scholarship but they have seldom done so from – or exclusively from – within law schools. In this chapter, we trace the history of the early women legal academics and contrast their demographics to their more contemporary counterparts. In doing so, we argue that while increasingly favourable to female law students, law schools have been historically entrenched in patriarchal scripts that continue to harm the female legal academic in India. Instead, it is from counter-institutions like social science schools, professional practice and progressive think tanks that women have been better able to sustain their legal voice, academic credibility and activism.