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13 Socio-Legal Rev. 1 (2017)
Feminist Reflections on Labour: The Ethics of Care within Maternity Laws in India

handle is hein.journals/soclerev13 and id is 11 raw text is: FEMINIST REFLECTIONS ON LABOUR: THE 'ETHICS OF CARE' WITHIN MATERNITY LAWS IN INDIA -Ira Chadha-Sridhar and Geetika Myer* The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 has recently been passed by the Parliament of India. While this Act is a progres- sive step for women, there is a need to question the theoreti- cal foundations of the law, rather than merely its consequential ramifications. Through this paper, we attempt to critique the individual rights-justice model that is integral to conceptualis- ing maternity laws and labour laws in India. We employ a crit- ical feminist lens to argue that such a model reproduces the public-private dichotomy and devalues the work of care within the private sphere- suggesting that it is not transformative labour, but merely reproductive. We draw from the feminist philosophy of care to argue that child-rearing must be recog- nised by the State as a form of labour in itself Further, we root these theoretical suggestions in the contemporary Indian context by providing certain tangible suggestions in terms of legislative and judicial changes that would further the responsibility-care approach to the issue of maternity in the Indian legal frame- work. Through this paper, we argue for broadening the scope of labour to include the work of care-thereby creating a space for care, relationships and connectedness within the law. Introduction ........................... 2 The Public-Private Dichotomy and its An Analysis of 'The Ethics of Care' Within Implications on the Conception of Labour Law Jurisprudence: Transitioning Labour ............................ 3 from the Language of 'Benefit' to the Approach of Care ...................... 3 Ira and Geetika are V Year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) students at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. They would like to thank Professor Amrita Banerjee for introducing them to the ethics of care within feminist moral philosophy.

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