Jurisprudence and geography of Hindu majoritarianism: Thinking with the 2019 Ayodhya judgement

Abstract

In this introduction, we first outline the background to this collection of papers and recall some of the conversations that were its genesis, before introducing the questions we wish to address through it. We then situate the collection within scholarship on Hindu majoritarianism and suggest that a nuanced understanding needs to take into account both its institutional and everyday dimensions. To do so, we focus on both jurisprudence and geography which, we argue, are crucial sites for the making of contemporary Hinduism but have not previously been brought together analytically. Through the work of six scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds (Law, Anthropology, Indology and Religious Studies) the special issue theorises the spatial and legal dimensions of contemporary Hinduism as cross-fertilising, and as crucial sites for the formation and functioning of Hindu majoritarianism.