Police Matters : The Everyday State and Caste Politics in South India, 1900-1975

Police Matters moves beyond the city to examine the intertwined nature of police and caste in the Tamil countryside. Radha Kumar argues that the colonial police deployed rigid notions of caste in their everyday tasks, refashioning rural identities in a process that has cast long postcolonial shadows. Kumar draws on previously unexplored police archives to enter the dusty streets and market squares where local constables walked, following their gaze and observing their actions towards potential subversives. Station records present a textured view of ordinary interactions between police and society, showing that state coercion was not only exceptional and spectacular; it was also subtle and continuous, woven into everyday life. The colonial police categorized Indian subjects based on caste to ensure the security of agriculture and trade, and thus the smooth running of the economy. Among policemen and among the objects of their coercive gaze, caste became a particularly salient form of identity in the politics of public spaces. Police Matters demonstrates that, without doubt, modern caste politics have both been shaped by, and shaped, state policing. Thanks to generous funding from theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation, through The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other repositories.

Police Matters moves beyondthe city to examine the intertwined nature of police and caste inthe Tamil countryside. Radha Kumar argues that thecolonial police acted as tools of the state in deploying rigidnotions of caste, refashioning rural identities in a process thathas cast long postcolonial shadows.

Kumar draws on unexplored police archives to enter the dustystreets and market squares where local constables walked, followingtheir gaze and observing their actions towards potentialsubversives. Station records present a textured view of ordinaryinteractions between police and society, showing that statecoercion was not only exceptional and spectacular; it was alsosubtle and continuous, woven into everyday life. The colonialpolice categorized Indian subjects based on caste to ensure thesecurity of agriculture and trade, and thus the smooth running ofthe economy. Among policemen and among the objects of theircoercive gaze, caste became a particularly salient form of identityin the politics of public spaces. Police Mattersdemonstrates that, without doubt, modern caste politics have bothbeen shaped by, and shaped, state policing.

Thanks to generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation,through The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, the ebook editionsof this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open(cornellopen.org) and other repositories.

Police Matters moves beyond the city to examine the intertwined nature of police and caste in the Tamil countryside. Radha Kumar argues that the colonial police deployed rigid notions of caste in their everyday tasks, refashioning rural identities in a process that has cast long postcolonial shadows. Kumar draws on previously unexplored police archives to enter the dusty streets and market squares where local constables walked, following their gaze and observing their actions towards potential subversives. Station records present a textured view of ordinary interactions between police and society, showing that state coercion was not only exceptional and spectacular; it was also subtle and continuous, woven into everyday life. The colonial police categorized Indian subjects based on caste to ensure the security of agriculture and trade, and thus the smooth running of the economy. Among policemen and among the objects of their coercive gaze, caste became a particularly salient form of identity in the politics of public spaces. Police Matters demonstrates that, without doubt, modern caste politics have both been shaped by, and shaped, state policing. Thanks to generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, through The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories. "Police Matters moves beyond the city to examine the intertwined nature of police and caste in the Tamil countryside. Radha Kumar argues that the colonial police acted as tools of the state in deploying rigid notions of caste, refashioning rural identities in a process that has cast long postcolonial shadows. Kumar draws on unexplored police archives to enter the dusty streets and market squares where local constables walked, following their gaze and observing their actions towards potential subversives. Station records present a textured view of ordinary interactions between police and society, showing that state coercion was not only exceptional and spectacular; it was also subtle and continuous, woven into everyday life. The colonial police categorized Indian subjects based on caste to ensure the security of agriculture and trade, and thus the smooth running of the economy. Among policemen and among the objects of their coercive gaze, caste became a particularly salient form of identity in the politics of public spaces. Police Matters demonstrates that, without doubt, modern caste politics have both been shaped by, and shaped, state policing. Thanks to generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, through The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other repositories." "A history of the entwinement of everyday police and caste authority in the colonial and postcolonial Tamil countryside in twentieth-century south India"-- Provided by publisher