Erotic justice : postcolonialism, law, sexuality

228 Pages·2004·6.323 MB·English

by  Kapur, Ratna

Erotic
Justice
^
postcolonialism,
subjects and rights
Ratna Kapur
EROTIC JUSTICE
LAW AND THE NEW POLITICS OF
POSTCOLONIALISM

EROTIC JUSTICE
LAW AND THE NEW POLITICS OF
POSTCOLONIALISM
Ratna Kapur
First published in Great Britain 2005 by
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© Kapur, R 2005
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Kapur, Ratna, 1959-
Erotic justice: law and the new politics of postcolonialism
1 Women - Legal status, laws, etc - India 2 Sex role - India 3 Sex and law - India
4 Feminism - India 5 Postcolonialism - India
I Title
642.5'40878
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
ISBN 1-90438-524-9
ISBN 978-1-904-38524-0
1 357910 8642
Printed and bound in Great Britain
Acknowledgments
This book owes its creation to the comments and suggestions of innumerable
researchers, colleagues, students and friends, who participated in conversations,
seminars, workshops and conferences, where I presented different incarnations of the
ideas set out in these essays. But the writing, rewriting and reworking of each essay
owes a special acknowledgment of its own: Sara Ahmad, Savitri Bisnath, Karen
Gabriel, Annalees Golz, Nicola Lacey, Uma Narayan, Jyoti Sanghera and Yasmin
Tambiah, who provided careful reading and helped me intellectually to work through
one or more chapters; Linda Bosch, Patricia Clough and Kirsten Thomas, who
provided me with spacc at the National Research Council of Women to prepare and
present my ideas at several fora and venues; NYU School of Law, Georgetown
University Law Centre and Cleveland State University, where participants in my
seminars and courses asked hard questions and taught me how to ask better ones;
Jayne Huckerby, Angelina Fisher, Connie Chang and Andrea Desouza, for research
assistance, helping with editorial changes and proof reading on all the chapters; the
Centre for Feminist Legal Research, where Lakshmi Arya, Geetika Bapna and Monica
Mody provided comments and research assistance; Sheela Subramaniam and
Chunchun Taranibala, who did the indispensable work of assisting with footnoting
and citation checking and providing invaluable technical and administrative backup;
and Jeet Kumar for staff support and backup. Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee
and the many conversations I have had with the sex-workers. The Keele Law School,
Leeds University and Centre for Feminist Legal Research, Gender, Law and Sexuality
Exchange Programme, for providing a forum to present my ideas. 1 am indebted to
those who gave me feedback and comments at the Postcolonialism, Law and Sexuality
seminar in July 2003, New Delhi, particularly, Brinda Bose, Mary John and Geeta Patel.
Thanks also for the input from friends and colleagues at the International Conference
on Cross-Border Movements and Human Rights, January, 2004, New' Delhi. My special
thanks to my editor, Beverley Brown, whose close readings and insightful comments
helped further hone both content and form; Ruth Massey and Sanjeevi Perera, who
have guided the manuscript through its various stages. The Rockefeller Foundation,
Ford Foundation, Global Alliance Against the Trafficking of Women (Canada), and the
Oak Foundation, who provided the material resources and funding at various points
in time to make this project possible. The ideas on which these essays are based owe a
great deal to the inspiration and guidance I received from Neelan Tiruchelvam, whose
cosmopolitanism, intellectual rigour and commitment to a transformative vision have
left an indelible impression on my work and life.
For Chapter 3,1 am indebted to Kanchana Natrajan for our correspondence on
culture, and Marie-Claire Belleau for an important conversation. Thanks to Nathaniel
Berman, Brenda Cossman, Dan Danielson, Shohini Ghosh, David Kennedy, Tayyab
Mahmud, Martha Minow, Kerry Rittich and Stella Rozanski for their comments,
conversations and support on earlier versions of this article. Thanks also to both the
Dighton Writers Workshop and the Feminist Studies Group, where I presented earlier
versions of this essay. Chapter 4 is a substantially revised version of an article which
appeared in (2001) 10 Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 333, 10th Anniversary
Volume, and I thank the editors for permission in reproducing parts of the essay for
this book.
| Erotic Justice
I am grateful to colleagues who provided feedback on Chapter 4, especially the
International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka; Cleveland Marshall
School of Law, 1999; the International Law Workshop, Columbia Law School, 2001;
and the International and Comparative Law Workshop, Cornell Law School, 2001,
where I presented different versions of this essay. I am indebted to Karen Knopp,
Tayyab Mahmud, Dianne Otto, Tanika Sarkar, Jyotsna Uppal and Leti Volpp for their
helpful comments on various drafts of this article. My thanks to Roshni Basu,
Deepanjali Kumari, Bridget Kurtt and Aparna Ravi for research assistance. Chapter 4 is
a substantially revised version of an article which appeared in (2002) 15 Harvard
Human Rights Law Journal 1. I thank the President and Fellows of Harvard College
and the Harvard Human Rights Law Journal for permission to reproduce parts of the
article in this book.
Chapter 5 was written with support from the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship
on Global Human Security. Earlier versions of this article have been presented at the
NYU Society of Fellows, December 2003; the UN DAW Expert Consultation on
Migration and Mobility and How this Movement Affects Women, Malmo, Sweden,
December 2003; Columbia University Human Rights Seminar, December 2003; the
New International Law Conference, Birkbeck College, University of London, June
2003; Legalisation of Human Rights Conference, University College, University of
London, April 2003; Jawaharlal Nehru University, Women's Studies Centre, New
Delhi, February 2003; Queens College, City University New York, November 2002;
Vienna Symposium on the International Legal Order, organised by the International
Institute for Peace, Vienna, Austria, March 2002; Faculty Seminar, Georgetown
University Law Centre, March 2002. My thanks to all those who gave feedback and
comments on the essay and presentations. I am particularly grateful for comments
provided by Doris Buss, Thuy Do, Susan Marks, Dianne Otto, Lynn Savery and
Chantal Thomas. I would like to thank Brigitte Kurt, Aparna Ravi and Connie Chang
for their research assistance.
Every book is another journey travelled. I am grateful to Ramma, Kumar and Jyoti
who have been constant companions on this journey from the beginning to the end
and a source of endless strength and encouragement, especially at moments when the
journey seemed never-ending. And finally, my thanks to Palaash for bringing
moments of reprieve, lightness of being and frolic during the course of writing this
book.
Contents
Acknowledgments v
1 Introduction 1
2 New Cosmologies: Mapping the Postcolonial Feminist Legal Project 13
3 Erotic Disruptions: Legal Narratives of Culture, Sex and Nation in India 51
4 The Tragedy of Victimisation Rhetoric: Resurrecting the 'Native' Subject
in International/Postcolonial Feminist Legal Politics 95
5 The Other Side of Universality: Cross-Border Movements and
the Transnational Migrant Subject 137
Bibliography 177
Glossary 199
Index 201

Chapter I
Introduction
[P]ostcolonialism is now the main mode in which the West's relation to its 'other' is
critically explored, and law has been to the forefront of that very relation.
(Fitzpatrick and Darian-Smith, 1999, p 4)
[I]n creating our own centers and our own locals, we tend to forget that our centers
displace others into the peripheries of our making.
(Probyn, 1990, p 176)
'Once upon a time I had everything. There was laughter and happiness in my
home. But ever since my father's illness rendered him speechless, life was engulfed
in gloom. No one gets into this profession because of choice. Taking advantage of
my father's illness, my uncle brought me to the city to get me a job. What job? The
bastard forced me into prostitution.' Aman looks distressed upon hearing her story.
At which point Chameli breaks into husky laughter and asks him 'So - how did you
like it?'. Aman responds, 'Like what?'. 'The story? It was a lie. Tell that story to a
customer after three pegs of whiskey, he will pay me 500 rupees as a tip.' Aman is
confused and angry - and Chameli breaks into further uncontrollable laughter.
Aman then inquires about her family. 'My mother loved chameli (jasmine)
flowers - that's why she named me "Chameli". We had a very big house. We used
to dance and play music every night and day ... My mother was also in the
profession here in Mumbai. She had a huge debt that she needed to repay. One
night when I was sleeping with my sister, I was awoken by my mother's screams.
Some men were dragging her out of the house. They forced her into a car and drove
away Some folks tell me that they burnt her alive. Her body was found on the
seashore. At the tender age of 16,1 was initiated into the sex trade to try and pay off
my mother's debt. You see this tattoo - (26.6.2000) - it is the day I repaid every
penny of my mother's debt. Isn't my story more tragic than a movie?' Aman is once
again disturbed. Chameli scrutinises his expression and then bursts into laughter
again. 'But this isn't true either. This tale is ruse number two. This story will fetch
me 1,000 rupees extra from the client.'
Chameli is a Bollywood film directed by Sudhir Mishra released in 2004 that
represents an encounter between Aman Kapur, a well-paid, young investment
consultant, and Chameli, a sex-worker, whose life is only revealed through highly
orchestrated fictional narratives that may generate income, but never reveal 'her
story'. The two meet fortuitously while taking shelter in the underbelly of
Mumbai's alleyways, during a dark and stormy night. Chameli is looking for
business, and the consultant is looking for a mechanic to repair his car, which has
broken down in the storm. But over the course of the night, he finds himself
challenged by the character of Chameli, and also exposed to the sordid underworld
of Mumbai life, of which he was unaware.