Roy How British Rule Changed India's Economy

The Paradox of the Raj
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-3-030-17708-9
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 159 Seiten

Reihe: Palgrave Studies in Economic History

This Palgrave Pivot revisits the topic of how British colonialism moulded work and life in India and what kind of legacy it left behind. Did British rule lead to India’s impoverishment, economic disruption and famine? Under British rule, evidence suggests there were beneficial improvements, with an eventual rise in life expectancy and an increase in wealth for some sectors of the population and economy, notably for much business and industry. Yet many poor people suffered badly, with agricultural stagnation and an underfunded government who were too small to effect general improvements. In this book Roy explains the paradoxical combination of wealth and poverty, looking at both sides of nineteenth century capitalism.

Between 1850 and 1930, India was engaged in a globalization process not unlike the one it has seen since the 1990s. The difference between these two times is that much of the region was under British colonial rule during the first episode, while it was an independent nation state during the second.

Roy's narrative has a contemporary relevance for emerging economies, where again globalization has unleashed extraordinary levels of capitalistic energy while leaving many livelihoods poor, stagnant, and discontented. 

Autoren/Hrsg.

Roy, Tirthankar

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Preface;7
2;Contents;9
3;List of Figures;10
4;List of Tables;13
5;Chapter 1 Introduction;14
5.1;Abstract;14
5.2;The Paradox of the Raj;14
5.3;Is the Paradox Explained?;20
5.4;The Creation of British India;22
5.5;Net Results;23
5.6;The Raj’s Success;26
5.7;The Raj’s Failure;29
5.8;The Story in a Nutshell and How It Relates to World History;32
5.9;Conclusion;34
5.10;Further Reading;36
6;Chapter 2 The Making of British India;37
6.1;Abstract;37
6.2;The Economy of the Inland;38
6.3;The Rise of the Seaboard;43
6.4;The Rise of the Company State;45
6.5;Why Did Trade Lead to an Empire?;48
6.6;Becoming a Government;49
6.7;New Trades;53
6.8;Shifts in Capital;59
6.9;The Mutiny and Its Aftermath;62
6.10;Conclusion;63
6.11;Further Reading;65
7;Chapter 3 The Business of the Cities;66
7.1;Abstract;66
7.2;Trade;67
7.3;Finance;70
7.4;Factories;73
7.5;‘Inputs’ into Factories: Labour, Capital, Management, and Technology;77
7.6;Business and Public Good;84
7.7;Artisans;87
7.8;Conclusion;89
7.9;Further Reading;90
8;Chapter 4 Unyielding Land;91
8.1;Abstract;91
8.2;Growth of Trade;92
8.3;The Regions;93
8.4;Peasants and Landlords;97
8.5;The Wage-Labourer;100
8.6;Moneylenders;102
8.7;The Colonist Model of Poverty: The Evil Lender;102
8.8;Another Theory: Limited Resource and High Risk;105
8.9;Conclusion;107
8.10;Further Reading;108
9;Chapter 5 A Poor State;109
9.1;Abstract;109
9.2;What Made a Colonial Government Colonial?;110
9.3;Funding the State;111
9.4;Drain: A Word Posing as a Theory;113
9.5;Not Enough Capital;115
9.6;The Currency Policy;117
9.7;Conclusion;119
9.8;References;120
10;Chapter 6 End of Famine;121
10.1;Abstract;121
10.2;Population Growth;122
10.3;Public Health;124
10.4;End of Famines;126
10.5;High Birth Rate and the Status of Women in India;132
10.6;The Bengal Famine;138
10.7;Conclusion;141
10.8;Further Reading;143
11;Chapter 7 A Different Story? The Princely States;144
11.1;Abstract;144
11.2;What Do We Know?;146
11.3;British India and the Princely States Compared;148
11.4;The Pattern of Economic Change;154
11.5;Did Independence Matter?;156
11.6;Conclusion;157
11.7;Further Reading;158
12;Chapter 8 Conclusion;159
12.1;Abstract;159
13;Index;163