Law and social change

Untouchability was not simply abandoned by Indian society on its own; Article 17 of the Constitution declared it abolished, and law has kept pushing against its social persistence ever since. This topic asks the harder, more specific question: exactly how far can a legal command actually move a stubborn social practice, and what determines whether a reform law succeeds or merely sits unenforced on the books?

In two minutes

Law can act as a deliberate instrument of social change by prohibiting an existing practice, creating new rights, or legitimising a new norm ahead of social consensus, but its success depends on enforcement, public awareness and a degree of underlying social readiness, without which even a well-drafted law risks becoming a dead letter.

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