Law and Society

Written in memory of I. P. Desai, this piece revisits debates on reservations through sociological insights. Baxi connects Desai’s work on caste and class with contemporary constitutional concerns, highlighting the enduring relevance of sociological analysis for understanding inequality and affirmative action policies. In Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 20 No. 10. pg 426-428

In The Indian Express.

Published by Oxford UniversityPress, New Delhi

Baxi examines how colonial legal structures continue to shape Indian law. The essay reflects on institutional continuity, authority, and exclusion, emphasizing how colonial forms of legality persist despite constitutional transformation. Published by OUP, Delhi

Upendra Baxi discusses a debate over Durkheim's theory that societies with complex divisions of labor rely on restitutive rather than repressive sanctions. It notes that Schwartz and Miller's study questioned this claim but was later mistakenly treated as a full "refutation." Baxi's piece aims to show their findings don't actually invalidate Durkheim's thesis. Published in Law & Society Review , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , Summer 1974 , pp. 645 - 651

This commentary examines judicial engagement with Savarkar in Supreme Court discourse. Baxi reflects on constitutional interpretation, secularism, and historical memory, emphasizing how courts participate in shaping narratives about religion and nation. Published in the Policy Studies 30. Washington, DC: East West Centre, pg. 47-58.

In this article, Baxi reflects on the intertwined dynamics of power, resistance, and social theory. He examines how law and institutions can be sites of both complicity in domination and struggle against it, emphasizing ambivalence rather than simple binaries of opgression and emancipation.

Published in the Social Scientist, 19, 9-10 (October-November), pg 19-26.

This essay explores how differing legal cultures generate conflict within and across societies. Baxi reflects on pluralism, colonial legacies, and institutional diversity, emphasizing how clashes between legal traditions shape interpretation, authority, and legitimacy in complex legal systems. Published in the Journal of the Indian Law Institute Vol 33, No. 2, pg 173-88.

Baxi examines Indian law reviews as sites of institutional memory and knowledge production. The essay reflects on editorial practices, intellectual traditions, and exclusions, emphasizing how legal scholarship shapes what is remembered, debated, and legitimized within Indian law. Published in the Delhi Law Review, 25, pg 1-20.

Published in the NUJS Law Review, Vol. 5 No. 2, April-June, 2012, Pg 163-170.