The purpose of this course is to help the students understand India’s colonial past, the shaping of the nationalist ideology, and the unfolding of the national movement. Integral to the course is understanding the ideas of democracy and freedom along with corresponding social relations as well as political and institutional practices that took shape in the context of the anti-colonial struggles. The institutions of the state, its policies, and the social and economic structures that exist today reflect the imprint of the colonial experience and the manner in which they have been transformed in the course of social struggles and the national movement.
Course Content
Unit I: Colonialism and Nationalism
a) Main Perspectives on Colonialism: Liberalism, Marxism, Post-colonialism
b) Approaches to the Study of Nationalism in India: Liberal Nationalist, Religious Nationalist, Marxist and Subaltern
Unit II: Colonial Rule in India and Impact
a) Colonial Ideology and Civilizing Mission: Assertion of Cultural and Racial Superiority
b) Impact on Forest, Agriculture, Land Relations, Industry and Ecology
c) Constitutional Development and the Colonial State
Unit III: Reform and Resistance
a) Religious Reform Movements
b) Other Social Reform Movements: Anti-Caste Movements and Women Emancipation Initiatives
c) Tribal, Peasants and Working-Class Resistance
d) Education and the Rise of the New-middle Class
Unit IV: Nationalist Politics and Expansion of its Social Base
a) Nationalist Movement: Formation of Indian National Congress, Liberal Constitutionalist, Swadeshi and the Radicals, Muslim League and Hindu Mahasabha
b) M. K. Gandhi and Mass Mobilisation: Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India Movement
c) Revolutionaries: Communists, Socialists and INA
d) Two-Nation Theory, Partitions and India’s Independence
Essential Readings
- Treanor, P. (1997). Structures of Nationalism. Sociological Research Online, 2(1), 60–72. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.70
- Alter, P. (1994). Nationalism (2nd ed.). Edward Arnold.
- Chakrabarty, D. (2002). A Small History of Subaltern Studies. In D. Chakrabarty, Habitations of Modernity: Essays in the Wake of Subaltern Studies (pp. 3–19). Permanent Black.
- Chandra, B. (1999). Essays on Colonialism. Orient Longman Ltd. (Chapter 1: Colonialism: Some Basic Aspects, pp. 1–22).
- Islam, S. (2006). The Origins of Indian Nationalism. In Religious Dimensions of Indian Nationalism (pp. 71–103). Media House.
- Thapar, R. (2000). Interpretations of Colonial History: Colonial, Nationalist, Post-colonial. In P. R. de Souza (Ed.), Contemporary India: Transitions (pp. 25–36). Sage Publications.
Source: Undergraduate (UG) Political Science Syllabus – Core V (Semester III): Colonialism and Nationalism in India.