Generations of Constitutional Studies

IF 0.3 Q4 POLITICAL SCIENCE Studies in Indian Politics Pub Date : 2021-05-27 DOI:10.1177/2321023021999240

Anupama Krishnan, K. Kailash

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Abstract

A paper on the Indian Constitution and its working is de rigueur in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in political science across Indian universities. When the two of us exchanged notes comparing what we read on the Indian Constitution at similar points of time in our educational journey, we realized that studying the constitution has been a lively area of interest, and there has been an impressive increase in scholarly work over the years. In the last decade, it has been approached from a variety of disciplinary paths causing a veritable explosion almost as if constitutional studies are the most fashionable field of research. This massive accumulation has created a conundrum of mixed feelings. On the one hand, these studies from scholarly discussions in different spheres have substantially enriched our knowledge and understanding of the constitution and its working. On the other hand, the cumulation of knowledge can also be overwhelming for both students and teachers alike. What was basic or essential reading two decades ago is one of the many texts in the field. While we cannot discard or ignore the scholarship that comes earlier in chronological time, we cannot, at the same time, cover the literature in the field given the time constraints. Moreover, these studies also approach the field from various disciplinary angles underlining multiple pathways to a topic. How do we then get over this dilemma caused by an embarrassment of riches? We attempt to map a framework that could serve as a teaching-learning framework to make sense of the vast corpus of work. We divide the literature in the field into four generations.2 The term ‘generation’ here denotes a collective identity in terms of ideas, approaches, methods and a sequence. A generation Studies in Indian Politics 9(1) 124–131, 2021 © 2021 Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies Reprints and permissions: in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india DOI: 10.1177/2321023021999240 journals.sagepub.com/home/inp

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几代宪法研究

在印度各大学的政治学本科生和研究生课程中，一篇关于印度宪法及其工作的论文都是必不可少的。当我们两人交换笔记，比较我们在教育之旅中类似时间点阅读的印度宪法时，我们意识到研究宪法一直是一个有趣的领域，多年来学术工作也有了令人印象深刻的增长。在过去的十年里，人们从各种学科途径来研究它，这引起了一场名副其实的爆炸，几乎就好像宪法研究是最时尚的研究领域。这种巨大的积累造成了一个复杂的情感难题。一方面，这些来自不同领域学术讨论的研究极大地丰富了我们对宪法及其工作的知识和理解。另一方面，知识的积累对学生和老师来说也可能是压倒性的。二十年前的基础或基本阅读是该领域众多文本之一。虽然我们不能放弃或忽视按时间顺序较早出现的学术，但考虑到时间限制，我们不能同时涵盖该领域的文献。此外，这些研究还从不同的学科角度探讨了该领域，强调了一个主题的多种途径。那么，我们该如何克服这种因财富尴尬而造成的困境呢？我们试图绘制一个可以作为教学框架的框架，以理解大量的工作。我们将该领域的文献分为四代。2这里的“一代”一词表示在思想、方法、方法和序列方面的集体身份。《印度政治的一代研究》9（1）124–1312021©2021 Lokniti，发展中社会研究中心转载和许可：in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india DOI:10.1177/221023021899240 journals.sagepub.com/home/inp

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来源期刊

Studies in Indian Politics POLITICAL SCIENCE-

CiteScore

0.70

自引率

20.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： SIP will publish research writings that seek to explain different aspects of Indian politics. The Journal adopts a multi-method approach and will publish articles based on primary data in the qualitative and quantitative traditions, archival research, interpretation of texts and documents, and secondary data. The Journal will cover a wide variety of sub-fields in politics, such as political ideas and thought in India, political institutions and processes, Indian democracy and politics in a comparative perspective particularly with reference to the global South and South Asia, India in world affairs, and public policies. While such a scope will make it accessible to a large number of readers, keeping India at the centre of the focus will make it target-specific.