Anindita Mukherjee
I graduated from NALSAR in 2015 and, it would appear, forgot to leave. After eight years of full-time research, having picked up my master's along the way, I took the plunge into teaching here in 2023.
In research, as in life, I am intrigued by things that defy categorisation, making my work multi-disciplinary (and me, a generalist) by default. My research on spatial justice questions in the context of housing culminated in a book on the (im)possibilities of a legal right to housing, the first on the subject in India. In my doctoral work, I probe the manner in which Indian law conceives of and leverages 'the public' to expand state power in its routine functioning.
Unveiling the power dynamics that undergird legality is an overarching preoccupation in my research and teaching. I am also, as a consequence, deeply invested in creating public archives of legal materials that do not make their way into traditional legal analysis -- for there is no accountability in the absence of information.
In my free time I am likely to be found bombarding beleaguered friends with videos of fluffy animals, reading, disappearing down internet rabbit-holes (it's research!) or whining about how little free time I have.
- LL.M.-Ph.D. (Integrated), NALSAR University of Law (LL.M., 2019; Ph.D., ongoing)
- B.A., LL.B. (Hons), NALSAR University of Law (2015)
Areas of Interest
Law and inequality, spatial justice, violence.
Ongoing Personal Projects
Open Access Repository of Historical Legislative Debates:
Working on a crowd-funded project to clean up, vet and make available a public archive of legislative debates from 1854 to 1952, encompassing the debates of the Indian Legislative Council (1854-1920), the Legislative Assembly and Council of States (1921-1947), the Constituent Assembly (1946-1949) and the Provisional Parliament (1950-1952).
Database of Law Affecting Media Functioning in India:
Creating a comprehensive database of union and state law (current and repealed), policies, guidelines and self-imposed codes of conduct that come together to regulate the media landscape in the country.
The Legal Right to Housing in India, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2019.
‘Cow Slaughter Bans: Protection of Symbols, or Oppression?’ in Towards a Food Secure India, Ranita Nagar and Sooraj Sharma (ed.), Ruby Press & Co., New Delhi, 2015.
Andhra Pradesh, 1 Annual Survey of State Laws in India, 2022.
Articles in Popular Media
The Rule of Law in a Reign of Terror, Verfassungsblog, June 20, 2022.
COVID-19 in India: Examining the Structural Enablers of Over-Centralisation, IACL-AIDC Blog, June 4, 2020.
COVID-19 in India: Seeking Accountability in a Moment of Crisis, IACL-AIDC Blog, June 4, 2020.
BBMP Resolution on Protests Outside Bengaluru’s Town Hall Aimed to Delegitimise People’s Right to Be Seen, Heard in Public, Firstpost, March 3, 2020.
Pervasive Discrimination, Segregated Spaces and the Chimerical Right to Housing, The Leaflet, June 6, 2019.
Procedure as Punishment, Raiot, March 31, 2016.
Rethinking Gender and Language in the Face of Privilege, Orinam, June 23, 2015.
“Right to Housing: International Perspectives (India)”, Conference on a Referendum on Housing in Ireland, UCD Centre for Constitutional Studies, Sutherland School of Law, Dublin, May 2022.
“IP Law and the Handloom Sector: Possibilities and Pitfalls”, Anchoring innovation in handloom weaving in India: Conference on rethinking Indian industrialization of crafts, Chirala, November 2018.
Organised an international dissemination conference: Conversations on Contemporary Struggles towards the Realisation of Socio-Economic Rights, Hyderabad. Publicly defended the first draft of my work on the legal right to housing in India before an expert audience. Also spoke on a panel on the Right to Work, in relation to the deskilling of traditional street performers in India. November 2017.
“Anti-Begging Laws and the Regulation of Busking in India”, Preserving Culture, Protecting Livelihoods: A Conference on the Magic of Street Performance, Hyderabad, February 2016.
Legal Methods (UG; 2023, 2024), Law and Poverty (UG; 2024), The Law of the Bulldozer (UG & PG; 2023), Law and Music for Change (UG & PG; 2024), The Law's Publics (UG & PG; 2024)
Room Number 51, Academic Block, NALSAR University of Law.