Using the Concept of Genocide as a Tool for Resistance: Legal Pluralities in Civic Action Against Son Preference in Tirupati, India

Abstract

In this paper based on original fieldwork, I seek to contribute to our understanding of the concept of genocide by examining how civil society actors draw from some aspects of it when seeking to bring about social change in relation to son preference primarily in Tirupati, India. Drawing from Nordic “critical” legal scholarship, I argue that the turn to the international criminal law concept of genocide could be theorized as a case of legal pluralism. Based on empirical material, I posit that even so to say formally “wrong” uses of legal concepts appear to be politically powerful. I suggest that the use of the international legal order in Tirupati’s civil society could be seen as an emancipatory strategy that follows an “instrumental” interpretation of international law. I conclude by arguing that the empirical material implies that we may need to rethink some of the underlying assumptions of the concept of genocide by highlighting its potential of serving as a tool for resistance for actors in civil society.