Towards a History of Consumption in South Asia

Towards a History of Consumption in South Asia PDF Author: Douglas E. Haynes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198063643
Category : Consumption (Economics)
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
This volume examines new ways of conceptualizing consumption historically in South Asia through a series of case studies on different commodities and consuming groups. It argues that notwithstanding the widespread character of poverty and the absence of a mass consumer society, consumptionpractices and attitudes about consumption have been critical factors in the constitution of South Asian society, culture, and economy since the late eighteenth century. The introduction examines patterns and trends; outlines the subject and arguments; and points to ways in which the collectionchallenges and enriches existing understandings of the subcontinent and its past.

Towards a History of Consumption in South Asia

Towards a History of Consumption in South Asia PDF Author: Douglas E. Haynes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198063643
Category : Consumption (Economics)
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
This volume examines new ways of conceptualizing consumption historically in South Asia through a series of case studies on different commodities and consuming groups. It argues that notwithstanding the widespread character of poverty and the absence of a mass consumer society, consumptionpractices and attitudes about consumption have been critical factors in the constitution of South Asian society, culture, and economy since the late eighteenth century. The introduction examines patterns and trends; outlines the subject and arguments; and points to ways in which the collectionchallenges and enriches existing understandings of the subcontinent and its past.

A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia

A History of Alcohol and Drugs in Modern South Asia PDF Author: Harald Fischer-Tiné
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317916824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
At the beginning of the 21st century, alcoholism, transnational drug trafficking and drug addiction constitute major problems in various South Asian countries. The production, circulation and consumption of intoxicating substances created (and responded to) social upheavals in the region and had widespread economic, political and cultural repercussions on an international level. This book looks at the cultural, social, and economic history of intoxicants in South Asia, and analyses the role that alcohol and drugs have played in the region. The book explores the linkages between changing meanings of intoxicating substances, the making of and contestations over colonial and national regimes of regulation, economics, and practices and experiences of consumption. It shows the development of current meanings of intoxicants in South Asia – in terms of politics, cultural norms and identity formation – and the way in which the history of drugs and alcohol is enmeshed in the history of modern empires and nation states — even in a country in which a staunch teetotaller and active anti-drug crusader like Mohandas Gandhi is presented as the ‘father of the nation’. Primarily a historical analysis, the book also includes perspectives from Modern Indology and Cultural Anthropology and situates developments in South Asia in wider imperial and global contexts. It is of interest to scholars working on the social and cultural history of alcohol and drugs, South Asian Studies and Global History.

Everyday Life in South Asia

Everyday Life in South Asia PDF Author: Diane P. Mines
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253013577
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description
Now updated: An “eminently readable, highly engaging” anthology about the lives of ordinary citizens in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka (Margaret Mills, Ohio State University). For the second edition of this popular textbook, readings have been updated and new essays added. The result is a timely collection that explores key themes in understanding the region, including gender, caste, class, religion, globalization, economic liberalization, nationalism, and emerging modernities. New readings focus attention on the experiences of the middle classes, migrant workers, and IT professionals, and on media, consumerism, and youth culture. Clear and engaging writing makes this text particularly valuable for general and student readers, while the range of new and classic scholarship provides a useful resource for specialists.

Consumption in Asia

Consumption in Asia PDF Author: Beng-Huat Chua
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134572360
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
The essays in this collection challenge conventional ideas about consumption and consumerism: they consider if the inundation of Western consumer goods have created identity confusions among the affluent in Asia, and if the expansion of consumer culture really does threaten the stability of politically anti-liberal states in Asia. This is the first book to analyse in detial consumerism in the region, and will be valuable reading for students and researchers in Asian studies, economics, politics and cultural studies.

Cities in South Asia

Cities in South Asia PDF Author: Crispin Bates
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317565134
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
Globalisation has long historical roots in South Asia, but economic liberalisation has led to uniquely rapid urban growth in South Asia during the past decade. This book brings together a multidisciplinary collection of chapters on contemporary and historical themes explaining this recent explosive growth and transformations on-going in the cities of this region. The essays in this volume attempt to shed light on the historical roots of these cities and the traditions that are increasingly placed under strain by modernity, as well as exploring the lived experience of a new generation of city dwellers and their indelible impact on those who live at the city’s margins. The book discusses that previously, cities such as Mumbai grew by accumulating a vast hinterland of slum-dwellers who depressed wages and supplied cheap labour to the city’s industrial economy. However, it goes on to show that the new growth of cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Madras in south India, or Delhi and Calcutta in the north of India, is more capital-intensive, export-driven, and oriented towards the information technology and service sectors. The book explains that these cities have attracted a new elite of young, educated workers, with money to spend and an outlook on life that is often a complex mix of modern ideas and conservative tradition. It goes on to cover topics such as the politics of town planning, consumer culture, and the struggles among multiple identities in the city. By tracing the genealogies of cities, it gives a useful insight into the historical conditioning that determines how cities negotiate new changes and influences. There will soon be more mega cities in South Asia than anywhere else in the world, and this book provides an in-depth analysis of this growth. It will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian History, Politics and Anthropology, as well as those working in the fields of urbanisation and globalisation.

Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia

Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia PDF Author: Harald Fischer-Tiné
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429774699
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 697

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Book Description
The Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia provides a comprehensive overview of the historiographical specialisation and sophistication of the history of colonialism in South Asia. It explores the classic works of earlier generations of historians and offers an introduction to the rapid and multifaceted development of historical research on colonial South Asia since the 1990s. Covering economic history, political history, and social history and offering insights from other disciplines and ‘turns’ within the mainstream of history, the handbook is structured in six parts: Overarching Themes and Debates The World of Economy and Labour Creating and Keeping Order: Science, Race, Religion, Law, and Education Environment and Space Culture, Media, and the Everyday Colonial South Asia in the World The editors have assembled a group of leading international scholars of South Asian history and related disciplines to introduce a broad readership into the respective subfields and research topics. Designed to serve as a comprehensive and nuanced yet readable introduction to the vast field of the history of colonialism in the Indian subcontinent, the handbook will be of interest to researchers and students in the fields of South Asian history, imperial and colonial history, and global and world history.

The Colonial Periodical Press in the Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions

The Colonial Periodical Press in the Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions PDF Author: Sandra Ataíde Lobo
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 0429516827
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
This book clarifies the crucial role of periodical press in the advance of colonial print cultures and public debates in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Colonial Periodical Press in the Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions is a venture of the International Group for Studies of Colonial Periodical Press of the Portuguese Empire (IGSCP-PE), which also invests in comparative studies and conceptual discussions. Moving around urban shores of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, it approaches the crucial role of periodical press in the development of colonial print cultures and public debates in these regions. By being mostly focused on press from spaces and peoples under the domain of the Portuguese Empire, it addresses a bibliographical gap in international discussions moved by the field. The outcome reflects an investment in offering decentred and de-nationalized approaches to the colonial print cultures and press histories under study, working as a platform for regional dialogues and comparative perspectives. The studies presented allow a better understanding of transits and connections of both an imperial and a trans-imperial nature, contributing to the consolidation of comparative approaches in the studies of European empires and colonialisms. This volume is indispensable for scholars and students in media studies, modern history, cultural studies, literary studies and political science.

Toward a Free Economy

Toward a Free Economy PDF Author: Aditya Balasubramanian
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691249296
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
The unknown history of economic conservatism in India after independence Neoliberalism is routinely characterized as an antidemocratic, expert-driven project aimed at insulating markets from politics, devised in the North Atlantic and projected on the rest of the world. Revising this understanding, Toward a Free Economy shows how economic conservatism emerged and was disseminated in a postcolonial society consistent with the logic of democracy. Twelve years after the British left India, a Swatantra (“Freedom”) Party came to life. It encouraged Indians to break with the Indian National Congress Party, which spearheaded the anticolonial nationalist movement and now dominated Indian democracy. Rejecting Congress’s heavy-industrial developmental state and the accompanying rhetoric of socialism, Swatantra promised “free economy” through its project of opposition politics. As it circulated across various genres, “free economy” took on meanings that varied by region and language, caste and class, and won diverse advocates. These articulations, informed by but distinct from neoliberalism, came chiefly from communities in southern and western India as they embraced new forms of entrepreneurial activity. At their core, they connoted anticommunism, unfettered private economic activity, decentralized development, and the defense of private property. Opposition politics encompassed ideas and practice. Swatantra’s leaders imagined a conservative alternative to a progressive dominant party in a two-party system. They communicated ideas and mobilized people around such issues as inflation, taxation, and property. And they made creative use of India’s institutions to bring checks and balances to the political system. Democracy’s persistence in India is uncommon among postcolonial societies. By excavating a perspective of how Indians made and understood their own democracy and economy, Aditya Balasubramanian broadens our picture of neoliberalism, democracy, and the postcolonial world.

Bombay Before Mumbai

Bombay Before Mumbai PDF Author: Prashant Kidambi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197507174
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
'City of Gold', 'Urbs Prima in Indis', 'Maximum City': no Indian metropolis has captivated the public imagination quite like Mumbai. The past decade has seen an explosion of historical writing on the city that was once Bombay. This book, featuring new essays by its finest historians, presents a rich sample of Bombay's palimpsestic pasts. It considers the making of urban communities and spaces, the workings of power and the nationalist makeover of the colonial city. In addressing these themes, the contributors to this volume engage critically with the scholarship of a distinguished historian of this frenetic metropolis. For over five decades, Jim Masselos has brought to life with skill and empathy Bombay's hidden histories. His books and essays have traversed an extraordinarily diverse range of subjects, from the actions of the city's elites to the struggles of its most humble denizens. His pioneering research has opened up new perspectives and inspired those who have followed in his wake. Bombay Before Mumbai is a fitting tribute to Masselos' enduring contribution to South Asian urban history

A Thirst for Empire

A Thirst for Empire PDF Author: Erika Rappaport
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691192707
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
"Tea has been one of the most popular commodities in the world. Over centuries, profits from its growth and sales funded wars and fueled colonization, and its cultivation brought about massive changes--in land use, labor systems, market practices, and social hierarchies--the effects of which are with us even today. A Thirst for Empire takes a vast and in-depth historical look at how men and women--through the tea industry in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa--transformed global tastes and habits and in the process created our modern consumer society. As Erika Rappaport shows, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries the boundaries of the tea industry and the British Empire overlapped but were never identical, and she highlights the economic, political, and cultural forces that enabled the British Empire to dominate--but never entirely control--the worldwide production, trade, and consumption of tea. Rappaport delves into how Europeans adopted, appropriated, and altered Chinese tea culture to build a widespread demand for tea in Britain and other global markets and a plantation-based economy in South Asia and Africa. Tea was among the earliest colonial industries in which merchants, planters, promoters, and retailers used imperial resources to pay for global advertising and political lobbying. The commercial model that tea inspired still exists and is vital for understanding how politics and publicity influence the international economy ..."--Jacket.