Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

Combating social exclusion and ensuring access to opportunity for marginalized groups are important concerns for states and social justice advocates. Since India gained Independence in 1947, constitutional protections known as reservations (quotas that “reserve” a percentage of slots for marginalized groups) have guaranteed political representation, access to education, and government employment for disenfranchised groups. Increasingly, these kinds of protections are being re-articulated through the language of human rights. This paper employs archival and qualitative methods to examine the interaction of postcolonial discourses of reservations and more recent globally-circulated development discourses in the context of India. Specifically, I analyze demands for reservations for transgender people, which sparks fierce debate when activists suggest that transgender women should be allowed to claim seats “reserved” for ciswomen (non-transgender women). Within a sexual rights movement dominated by internationally-funded NGOs employing the language of human rights, I explore how the language of human rights is impacting debates on gender and reservations and it is re-shaping transgender people’s relationship to the state.