Civilizing Missions in Colonial and Postcolonial South Asia: From Improvement to Development (Anthem South Asian Studies,Anthem Modern South Asian History)

'Civilizing Missions in Colonial and Postcolonial South Asia' demonstrates how the civilizing mission can serve as an analytical rubric with relevance to many themes in the colonial and postcolonial eras: economic development, state building, pacification, nationalism, cultural improvement, gender and generational relations, caste and untouchability, religion and missionaries, class relations, urbanization, NGOs, and civil society. While some chapters investigate civilizing initiatives that were driven by the British Raj or Indian postcolonial state, the book also considers many examples of nongovernmental undertakings. For example, examining the role of missionary educational endeavours shows how missionary bodies could operate in an ambivalent space between Indians and the colonial state. Moreover, analysis of Indian civilizing efforts carried out by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the nationalist movement or postcolonial Indian states gives us interesting opportunities to scrutinize how the civilizing mission could be internalized as a form of 'self-civilizing' by Indians. Some papers also show the global linkages of civilizing efforts in the British Empire, while others examine long-term continuities through broad comparative analyses covering the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This takes us into the postcolonial era (beyond 1947, into the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries), and such 'transgressions' across the colonial divide give this volume added appeal. Front Matter Half Title Title Page Copyright Page TABLE OF CONTENTS Main Matter Introduction THE RELEVANCE AND COMPLEXITY OF CIVILIZING MISSIONS C. 1800–2010 Civilizing Missions Today? The Present Book Postcolonial Britain: An Area for Further Research? Notes Part One: THE RAJ’S REFORMS AND IMPROVEMENTS: ASPECTS OF THE BRITISH CIVILIZING MISSION Chapter One: CONJECTURING RUDENESS: JAMES MILL’S UTILITARIAN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AND THE BRITISH CIVILIZING MISSION Introduction: The History of British India as an Exercise in Futility Approaching The History of British India: Mill’s Science of Human Nature The Scale of Civilizations Conjecturing Rudeness: Mill’s Historiographical Method Conclusion: Mill and the Civilizing Mission Notes Chapter Two: ART, ARTEFACTS AND ARCHITECTURE: LORD CURZON, THE DELHI ARTS EXHIBITION OF 1902–03 AND THE IMPROVEMENT OF INDIA’S AESTHETICS Prologue: On the Political Implications of Art and Architecture Art and Architecture as a Marker of Progress The Indo-European Debate on Indo-Saracenic vs Palladio-Classic Architecture On the Development of Arts and Artefacts: The Delhi Arts Exhibition of 1902–03 Epilogue: Of Patronage and Politics Notes Part Two: COLONIALISM, INDIANS AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS: THE AMBIGUITY AND COMPLEXITY OF ‘IMPROVEMENT’ Chapter Three: INCORPORATION AND DIFFERENTIATION: POPULAR EDUCATION AND THE IMPERIAL CIVILIZING MISSION IN EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY INDIA Introduction 1. Incorporation: Universal Education for Civilization 2. Differentiation: Useful Knowledge for Different Social Positions 3. Hierarchical Inclusion, Selective Appropriation, Renegotiating Positions 4. Demand and Supply, Technologies and Effects: The ‘Copy-Book System’ Conclusion: Tensions of Empire and the Limits of the Civilizing Mission Notes Chapter Four: RECLAIMING SAVAGES IN ‘DARKEST ENGLAND’ AND ‘DARKEST INDIA’: THE SALVATION ARMY AS TRANSNATIONAL AGENT OF THE CIVILIZING MISSION Introduction The Emergence of Salvationism in Mid-Victorian England The Imperial Mission Without Concluding Remarks Appendix Notes Chapter Five: MEDIATING MODERNITY: COLONIAL STATE, INDIAN NATIONALISM AND THE RENEGOTIATION OF THE ‘CIVILIZING MISSION’ IN THE INDIAN CHILD MARRIAGE DEBATE OF 1927–1932 Child Marriage, Colonialism and the ‘Civilizing Mission’ Nationalism, Feminism and the ‘Self-Civilizing Mission’ Pragmatism, Principle and the Colonial State The Aftermath Notes Part Three: INDIAN ‘SELF-CIVILIZING’ EFFORTS C. 1900–1930 Chapter Six: ‘CIVILIZING SISTERS’: WRITINGS ON HOW TO SAVE WOMEN, MEN, SOCIETY AND THE NATION IN LATE COLONIAL INDIA1 Conclusion Appendix. The Life of Women: Women’s Place in Ancient Times Notes Chapter Seven: FROM ‘SOCIAL REFORM’ TO ‘SOCIAL SERVICE’: INDIAN CIVIC ACTIVISM AND THE CIVILIZING MISSION IN COLONIAL BOMBAY C. 1900–1920 Introduction Reclaiming the ‘Depressed Classes’ Social Work and the Urban Poor Conclusion Notes Part Four: TRANSCENDING 1947: COLONIAL AND POSTCOLONIAL CONTINUITIES Chapter Eight: FEMALE INFANTICIDE AND THE CIVILIZING MISSION IN POSTCOLONIAL INDIA: A CASE STUDY FROM TAMIL NADU C. 1980–2006 Introduction Why Female Infanticide in Postcolonial Tamil Nadu? Description of the Government Policies and Programmes Pre-Application Criteria Post-Application Criteria Voices from the Field Concluding Remarks Notes References Chapter Nine: PHILANTHROPY AND CIVILIZING MISSIONS IN INDIA C. 1820–1960: STATES, NGOS AND DEVELOPMENT I. 1820–57: Philanthropy and the East India Company II. Nationalism, Charity and Constructive Social Work, c. 1890–1947 III. 1947–1960: Philanthropy, Development and the Indian State Conclusion Appendix: Some Indian NGOs Connected to Gandhi’s Constructive Programme c. 1915–1948 Notes Afterword IMPROVEMENT, PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT On the Legitimacy of the Civilizing Mission On the Origins of the Civilizing Mission On the Outcomes of the Civilizing Mission Notes End Matter LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS INDEX This Collection Demonstrates How The Civilizing Mission Can Serve As An Analytical Rubric With Relevance To Many Themes In The Colonial And Postcolonial Eras: Economic Development, State Building, Pacification, Nationalism, Cultural Improvement, Gender And Generational Relations, Caste And Untouchability, Religion And Missionaries, Class Relations, Urbanization, Ngos And Civil Society.--back Cover. Introduction: The Relevance And Complexity Of Civilizing Missions C. 1800-2010 / Carey A. Watt -- Conjecturing Rudeness: James Mill's Utilitarian Philosophy Of History And The British Civilizing Mission / Adam Knowles -- Art, Artefacts And Architecture: Lord Curzon, The Delhi Arts Exhibition Of 1902-03 And The Improvement Of India's Aesthetics / Michael Mann -- Incorportaion And Differentiation: Popular Education And The Imperial Civilizing Mission In Early Nineteenth Century India / Jana Tschurenev -- Reclaiming Savages In 'darkest England' And 'darkest India': The Salvation Army As Transnational Agent Of The Civilizing Mission / Harald Fischer-tiné -- Mediating Modernity: Colonial State, Indian Nationalism And The Renegotiation Of The 'civilizing Mission' In The Indian Child Marriage Debate Of 1927-1932 / Andrea Major -- 'civilizing Sisters': Writings On How To Save Women, Men, Society And The Nation In Late Colonial India / Shobna Nijhawan -- From 'social Reform' To 'social Service': Indian Civic Activism And The Civilizing Mission In Colonial Bombay C. 1900-20 / Proshant Kidambi -- Female Infanticide And The Civilizing Mission In Postcolonial India: A Case Study From Tamil Nadu C. 1980-2006 / Shahid Perwez -- Philanthropy And Civilizing Missions In India C. 1820-1960: States, Ngos And Development / Carey A. Watt -- Afterward: Improvement, Progress And Development / Michael Mann. Edited By Carey A. Watt And Michael Mann. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.