In times like these when the world is riddled with extreme polarities, a new book, titled, We the People, brings a collection of essays that centres on growth of universal rights. Authors Nikhil Day, Rakshita Swamy and Aruna Roy are academics, activists and practitioners, and their perspectives contextualise the complex relationship of the citizen with the state, society and market in democratic India.
Delving into important questions – Who are the people of India? Their rights? What are their claims on the Indian Constitution and on democracy? – the essays examine the challenge of establishing, realising and protecting these entitlements.
Roy explains: “A series of rights-based legislations passed, from 2005 onwards, with the enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) and Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), created a new paradigm of development.
Some of the most prominent practitioners come together in this book to explain how economic, political, and social rights manifest together to make law and policy.”
She further adds that the essays unravel the context of these legislations, such as “people’s extraordinary contribution, collective work that crafted and established these rights, defined principles of their theoretical framework, and focused on the common citizen as the agent of change.” Invaluable as these legislations have been during the COVID crisis, Roy says we are left with one question.
“Can the rights-based approach prevail with the opposition of market forces and devaluing of participatory democracy in the increasing centralisation of power? Will they survive in the politically hostile environment they are in? The book has some answers.”