Female Gaze, Indian Constitution and Politics of Electoral Representation

In Episode 3 of the ‘Legally Hers’ Podcast, Prathiksha Ullal, in conversation with Dr. Kalpana Kannabiran, turns to the Constitution of India to ask: what might a feminist rendition of the Constitution truly look like? And what does it mean for women to reclaim it through collective ownership?

Together, they explore how this idea comes alive in protest, memory, and collective expression, while questioning whether numerical representation alone can ensure genuine democratic participation across intersectional identities.

The episode also reflects on the distinct language through which women speak, express, and protest, often rooted in lived experience, emotion, and collective memory, and contrasts it with the traditionally dominant, male-centric language of proof, documentation, and bureaucratic precepts.

Tune in for a powerful conversation on law, gender, and reimagining the constitution of India as a space for feminist engagement.

Meet Dr. Kalpana Kannabiran

Dr. Kannabiran is a legal scholar and sociologist, formerly a Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development, India. She has published extensively on the constitution, law and human rights. Dr. Kannabiran is a sociologist and legal scholar based in Hyderabad, India. Over the past three decades, she has co-founded and worked with Asmita Resource Centre for Women (1991-2021), was part of the founding faculty of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, where she taught sociology and law (1999-2009), and retired as Professor and Regional Director, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad (2011-2021). She is formerly a Distinguished Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi and has completed a three-year term as Civil Society Advisory Governor (Asia Region), Commonwealth Foundation, London, January 2020—December 2022.

Dr. Kannabiran has published widely across the fields of law, gender and sexuality studies, and sociology. Her widely acclaimed book Tools of Justice: Non-Discrimination and the Indian Constitution (Routledge, 2012) was the first to open out a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, intersectional exploration of the fundamental right to non-discrimination in India. A compilation of her public writing in The Hindu, The Wire, and Scroll is published as Law, Justice and Human Rights in India: Short Reflections (Orient BlackSwan, 2021). She has translated and edited The Speaking Constitution: A Sisyphean Life in Law by K.G. Kannabiran (HarperCollins 2022), and has edited Law, Justice and Society: Selected Works by Upendra Baxi, Volume 3: Law and Society (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2024).