Mainstream development discourse and practice has not paid adequate attention to the institutional dimensions of development. Further, legal academic research in India has almost completely ignored the role of law and legal institutions in India’s development. The belated recognition of the role and significance of institutions means that questions such as what institutions are, how they work and how they shape political and administrative actions and outcomes have become increasingly important. This course will critically examine the relationship between law and development through a theoretical focus on legal institutions and conceptions of development.
This course offers students a normative and social scientific perspective of the relationship between law and development that encourages students to embrace an external view of the law and legal systems that is atypical in Indian legal education. This multi-disciplinary perspective is foundational for the rest of the programme which encourages all students to go beyond the law, and develop competence and ability in at least one mode of disciplinary enquiry external to the legal method.