Based on the following essay (see attachment):
Das, Veena. “A Child Disappears: Law in the Courts, Law in the Interstices of Everyday Life.” Contributions to Indian Sociology 53, no. 1 (2019): 97–132.
You may cite readings we have done in class to elaborate your arguments.
QUESTIONS AND POINTS TO HELP GUIDE YOUR PAPER:
Purple (see below) = overall questions to keep in mind and to weave through the essay.
Red (see below) = more focused questions which should be treated sequentially.
Remember to describe actual details to convey your understanding and observations, rather than abstractions.
Include an introduction and conclusion. The introduction should lay out the structure of your essay. The conclusion should reflect on what you have discovered in the course of writing the essay.
You are encouraged to cite any readings we have covered in class, but please do not use outside material without running it by me.
Your essay should be complete i.e. answered in the structure of a typical paper, including a unique title, introduction and conclusion (see above), proper citations with page numbers, and a bibliography. Note: You need not cite class lectures.
The essay should be 5-6 pages in length, double spaced, or 1750 (min.) – 2100 (max.) words.
Questions:
Which threads of a) common law; b) social ordering; and c) formal law do we discover in the essay?
How do aspects of a), b), and c) come to overlap or be “misrecognized” — one substituted for the other? (Another way of asking the above — what aspects of common law, social ordering, and formal law become “blurred” in the case? Why does this become significant?)
How is case material shaped by formal law? Describe two instances in detail.
How does the case begin to look differently when seen from the “everyday”? What does the author mean when she says the everyday case runs “diagonally” to official case?
How do aspects of law — such as the “work” of local police —weave into everyday people’s lives? How does this complicate our understanding of law and life? (hint: think of common life processes here).
How do certain details of the case begin to merge or be “exploded” by the work of media, politicians, etc? How do these phenomena begin to shape the case itself?