Professor Poulami Roychowdhury’s new book Capable Women, Incapable States asks how women claim rights against violence in India and with what consequences

Professor Poulami Roychowdhury’s new book Capable Women, Incapable States: Negotiating Violence and Rights in India (Oxford University Press) shows how illegality is central to the exercise of citizenship rights in India. Women stake claims by mobilizing organized support, threatening law enforcement personnel, and doing the work of the state themselves.