Abstract

The Bhil and Girassia tribal regions of Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in Western India have been historically associated with ideas of wildness and primitivity that have relegated them to zones of exception. This article examines how everyday legal practices reflect and reproduce tribal exceptionalism. In particular, the article examines cases that are registered under sections 323 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code. The combination of 323 and 341 is locally known as petty violence. The manner in which high caste legal practitioners, including police officers, government doctors, lawyers, magistrates, and court clerks, inscribe documents in a legal file pertaining to crimes of 323 and 341, such as the First Information Report, injury report, map of crime, and list of witnesses, is mediated by a complex infrastructure of caste ideology that assumes that Bhils are wild, lack mental skills, and are only capable of petty violence. Legal practitioners believe that tribal life is incommensurable with the specific forms of selfhood, modes of interaction, and publicity that comprise legal personhood and that tribals are more effectively governed by their own customary laws. The article reveals how through these everyday police and court practices, legal practitioners legitimize and establish the state by creating spheres of tribal exceptionalism.

摘要

印度西部拉贾斯坦邦乌代布尔地区的比尔和吉拉西亚部落地区在历史上一直与野性和原始观念联系在一起，这使它们成为例外地区。本文探讨了日常法律实践如何反映和再现部落例外论。该文章特别审查了根据《印度刑法典》第 323 条和第 341 条登记的案件。323 和 341 的组合在当地被称为轻微暴力。高种姓法律从业者，包括警察、政府医生、律师、地方法官和法院书记员，在与 323 和 341 罪行有关的法律档案中记录文件的方式，例如第一信息报告、受伤报告、地图犯罪行为和证人名单，它是由复杂的种姓意识形态基础设施所调节的，这种意识形态认为比尔人是野蛮的，缺乏心理技能，并且只能进行轻微的暴力。法律从业者认为，部落生活与构成法人资格的具体自我形式、互动方式和公开性是不可通约的，并且部落更有效地受到自己的习惯法的管辖。文章揭示了法律从业者如何通过这些日常的警察和法庭实践，通过创造部落例外主义领域来使国家合法化并建立国家。以及包含法人资格和部落更有效地受其自己的习惯法管辖的宣传。文章揭示了法律从业者如何通过这些日常的警察和法院实践，通过创造部落例外主义领域来使国家合法化并建立国家。以及包含法人资格和部落更有效地受其自己的习惯法管辖的宣传。文章揭示了法律从业者如何通过这些日常的警察和法院实践，通过创造部落例外主义领域来使国家合法化并建立国家。