The July uprising marks a significant event for our national history not only as a moment of political introspection, but also in terms of appreciating people’s perception and understanding of law as a lived experience. The events offer a rich case study of observing people’s perception and understanding of law – popularly termed as legal consciousness in sociolegal studies. Observing the popular use of law during the protests can help us understand how law in books differs from law in context, law in society, law in everyday reality (Chua and Engel, 2019).
In this piece, I will discuss three aspects of legal consciousness manifested in the uprising: 1. That the chaos of revolution exposed law as both an anti-people force and a useful instrument for demanding justice, 2. That use of legal language in popular discourse made people agents of producing alternative legalities to counter state-sponsored narratives of law, and 3. That people’s attitude throughout the process reflects the colonial violence heavily embedded in people’s psyche.