BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20250929T153022EDT-7991vm6tg9@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20250929T193022Z DESCRIPTION:A talk by Mitra Sharafi\, Assistant Professor of Law and Legal Studies\, University of Wisconsin\, Madison. Organized by the Katharine A . Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy\, and by the South Asia Working Group (Fac. of Arts). Abstract This talk explores the legal cul ture of the Parsis\, or Zoroastrians\, an ethnoreligious community unusual ly invested in the colonial legal system of British India and Burma. Rathe r than trying to maintain collective autonomy and integrity by avoiding in teraction with the state\, the Parsis sank deep into the colonial legal sy stem itself. From the late eighteenth century until India’s independence i n 1947\, they became heavy users of colonial law\, acting as lawyers\, jud ges\, litigants\, lobbyists\, and legislators. They de-Anglicized the law that governed them and enshrined in law their own distinctive models of th e family and community by two routes: frequent intragroup litigation often managed by Parsi legal professionals in the areas of marriage\, inheritan ce\, religious trusts\, and libel\, and the creation of legislation that w ould become Parsi personal law. Other South Asian communities also turned to law\, but none seems to have done so earlier or in more pronounced ways than the Parsis. Speaker bio Mitra Sharafi is an assistant professor of Law and Legal Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison\, with an affiliation appointment in History. She holds history degrees from 91ֱ (BA 1996) and Princeton (PhD 2006) and law degrees from Cambridge (BA 1998 ) and Oxford (BCL 1999). Her work has appeared in a variety of scholarly j ournals and has been recognized by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation\, the N ational Science Foundation\, and the Social Science Research Council. Her first book\, Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia: Parsi Legal Culture \, 1772-1947 is forthcoming with the American Society for Legal History’s “Studies in Legal History” book series. It will be published by Cambridge University Press in April 2014. She is currently at work on her next book project\, a study of poisoning and medical jurisprudence in colonial India . Faculty webpage: law.wisc.edu/profiles/sharafi Research website (South Asian Legal History Resources): hosted.law.wisc.edu/wordpress/sharafi DTSTART:20140411T160000Z DTEND:20140411T180000Z LOCATION:Common Room\, Chancellor Day Hall\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 1W9\, 3644 rue Peel SUMMARY:Law and Minority Identity in Colonial India URL:/law/channels/event/law-and-minority-identity-colo nial-india-235109 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR