Prohibitioning and the Constitution of India

Prohibition was reviewed and re-conceptualised following the achievement of independence, when the foundations of the modern Indian state were formally established. In the long run, the prohibition ideal filtered through new administrative and legal frameworks that nevertheless bore the imprint of both colonialism and the struggle against it. As the independent Indian republic was premised upon the founding principles of secular democracy and federalism, prohibition had to reckon with both debates relating to personal liberties and issues of state autonomy.

Following independence, the national democratic state – having won the mandate of representing national society – sought to intervene in that domain in order to transform it. The processes that had accompanied the birth of the Indian nation had brought forth institutions, structures and practices that enabled policies like prohibition to be operationalised through the workings of the state. However, the problem remained that a national society still had to be fashioned anew from the fluid, overlapping identities that made up the fabric of Indian social life. Amidst such a ‘recalcitrant social’, which, Prathama Banerjee argues, continued to function as ‘a network of multiple nodes of caste, community and regional sovereignties’, postcolonial governmentality appeared from the very outset ‘a compromised project’.

In this, however, postcolonial governmentality did not constitute as radical a rupture from the colonial past as Banerjee's discussion would suggest. The careful balancing act that the nationalist government attempted to strike between ‘mobilising the social and mobilising the political’ had already set the tone for things to come before independence was achieved; prohibition's colonial-era origins are a case in point.

This chapter ties together the arguments of the book and sketches out their broader implications. It addresses, in particular, three issues. The first is what Messianic claims regarding divine indexicality and authority may tell us about political culture and local perceptions of secular government authority in the South Sudan-Ethiopia borderlands. The second is whether the Messianic preoccupation with truth and self-awareness is a distinctively ‘modern’ disposition or an attitude that is historically and culturally informed and therefore also speaks to local notions of spiritual mediation. Finally, the chapter returns to Christian Zionism and Africa’s Messianic frontier and sketches out some of the ways in which the case of Gambella’s Messianic Jews may be indicative of processes and trends evident among African born-again Christians more broadly.

The Permanent Court of International Justice (1919–1946) may be seen as an unprecedented institutional experiment. Its impact and output have been substantial, and consequently its legacy might equally be called fundamental. This chapter seeks to demonstrate the veracity of the foregoing statements, situating the Court in its contemporary context while building on similar scholarly ventures that were undertaken previously. In contrast to earlier inquiries, the study reflects rather more broadly on the institution’s positioning, especially on how it interacted with the principal organs of the League of Nations. It begins by placing a focus on the Court’s inception, from an idea to fully settled status. Thereafter, the chapter analyses the environment within which the Court functioned, and the interplay with its League interlocutors. Next, a review is undertaken of a series of leading pronouncements, both judgments and advisory opinions, concentrating on those verdicts that have obtained a genuinely enduring value. Drawing from these analyses, an assessment is made of the Court’s overall contribution to the multilateral order against the background of interwar-era politics followed in turn by a brief series of concluding observations.

What was the place of international law in the League of Nations? Drawing up the balance from the many perspectives on this question offered in the Handbook, the Conclusion first and foremost acknowledges the complex reality observed in many chapters of an oftentimes messy interplay between politics and law, a reality that defies any generalizing account of either ‘failure’ or ‘progress’ achieved through the League. Instead, it points at three overarching developments that can be discerned: (1) the continuing impact of ‘peace through law’ ideals throughout the League years in spite of their suppression during the Paris Peace Conference; (2) the imperial, civilizational but also geographical differences the League of Nations and its international law helped sustain but also contested from the perspective of (legal) equality; and (3) the transformation of international law into a prerequisite of global governance which prevailed also after the League of Nations collapsed.

This chapter looks at a series of English poets who have identified Pindar as a poet of freedom – both metrical and political – before turning to some modern Greek poets who have been influenced by this aspect of the English Pindaric tradition. Among the poets discussed are Abraham Cowley, Thomas Gray, A. E. Stallings, Andreas Kalvos, and Angelos Sikelianos.

Chapter 3 offers an overview of the role of international law in the International Labour Organization (ILO) during the first quarter-century of its existence. The chapter focuses on three kinds of international ordering conducted in, by, and through the ILO: the ordering of class relations through the systematic construction of international labour law; the ordering of inter-polity relations, arising from the extension of the ILO’s activities to non-metropolitan states and territories; and the ordering of international institutional relations. The chapter shows how international law was deeply implicated in each of these forms of international ordering and, in turn, transformed through them in a variety of ways. It examines the expanding range of legal activities conducted in and through the ILO; considers its role in reproducing civilizational hierarchies as its focus widened beyond Europe; and details its contributions to the development of international organizations law. The outcomes of the ILO’s normative work were often ambivalent, simultaneously advancing workers’ rights while reinscribing racialized distinctions. Yet in many ways the ILO was, for better or worse, at the vanguard of international legal ordering throughout this period, and highly influential on the international order that emerged after the Second World War.

This chapter explores the shift from viewing languages as fixed, bounded systems to understanding languaging as a fluid, creative, and relational process of meaning-making. It presents languaging as an embodied and affective act that embodies both agency and vulnerability. The concept of “playful voices” captures the ways language users draw on their diverse linguistic repertoires to navigate, challenge, and reimagine power structures that privilege certain ways of speaking. Yet, these playful acts unfold on “precarious grounds,” where speakers’ linguistic creativity is frequently surveilled, corrected, and devalued. The chapter positions languaging as a space of both empowerment and risk – a means through which individuals negotiate identity, belonging, and resistance within unequal social orders. Ultimately, it argues that moving from languages to languaging transforms our understanding of communication, highlighting it as a living, dynamic practice shaped by both playfulness and precarity.

Ignatius Sancho’s correspondents spanned the British Empire, from India to the Caribbean and North America. One of the earliest reviewers of the posthumous publication of Sancho’s Letters in 1782 remarked that “Sancho may be styled—what is very uncommon for men of his complexion, A man of letters. His commerce with the Muses was supported amid the trivial and momentary interruptions of a shop.” The publication of Sancho’s correspondence revealed him to also be a lettered man. The contents and style of his writings demonstrate that he was truly a man of letters in every sense of the phrase. The demographic, geographic, and social diversity of Sancho’s correspondents ultimately substantiates the observation he made to Margaret Cocksedge on July 31, 1775: “I have lived with the great—and been favoured by beauty.”

This chapter focuses on the legal framework for the use of AI in courts in Croatia and Slovenia, which results from their legal traditions as well as their membership in the Council of Europe and the EU. It also aims to discuss AI systems, either operational or in development, in both countries, and to evaluate their impact on fundamental rights and ethics. The findings demonstrate that while both countries experience a slow but gradual introduction of AI initiatives, in Slovenia this is happening without pre-existing or rigorous regulatory oversight.

This chapter examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can address inefficiencies in India’s judicial system, focusing on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases. Analysis of 220,000 cases reveals significant regional disparities in processing and outcomes, reflecting broader systemic challenges. Despite digital infrastructure investments, we identify a disconnect between data collection and data- driven decision-making. We propose an AI-powered dashboard to provide real-time case tracking, identify bottlenecks, and improve resource allocation. While implementation faces challenges related to data quality and privacy, successful deployment could serve as a model for judicial reform in India and globally.

This chapter examines the intersection of militarism, climate change, and Islamic environmental ethics from a transnational perspective, arguing that the military-industrial complex is a structurally overlooked but significant contributor to global ecological degradation. It critiques the exemption of military emissions from international climate protocols and highlights the disproportionate environmental burdens placed on Muslim-majority countries. Drawing on Quranic principles such as khalīfah (trusteeship), mīzān (balance), and ‘adl (justice), the chapter presents a theological framework that calls for demilitarization and ecological justice. Through case studies from Iraq, Gaza, and Afghanistan, as well as analysis of Islamic legal tools, eco-fatwas, grassroots movements, and green finance instruments, the chapter outlines a holistic response rooted in Islamic teachings. It concludes by advocating for a reconceptualization of national security and climate action that centers spiritual responsibility, ecological stewardship, and transnational solidarity.

The failure to recognize and establish legal environmental rights and norms is perilous for the health of the planet and its populations. Using another source of obligations, such as faith-based approaches for ecological harmony and environmental protecti on, can work to realign delicate ecosystem balances. This article considers ancient and medieval sources from the teachings of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Daoism, Shintoism, Sikhism, and others to provide new directions for existing environmental challenges