Claiming the City: PROTEST, CRIME and SCANDALS in COLONIAL CALCUTTA C. 1860-1920

Claiming the City: PROTEST, CRIME and SCANDALS in COLONIAL CALCUTTA C. 1860-1920
ISBN-10
0199464790
ISBN-13
9780199464791
Series
Claiming the City
Category
India
Pages
310
Language
English
Published
2016-06-16
Publisher
Oxford University Press, USA
Author
Anindita Ghosh

Description

Departing from approaches that see the city as the unproblematic product of British initiative and disciplining, 'Claiming the city' presents the urban processes shaping Calcutta as contested and partially indigenous. In a crucial intervention the work studies how the colonial urban was not just born out of the ordered institutional spaces inscribed by public parks and squares, sewers and water supplies, roads and tramways, but also the more plebeian imprint of their circumvention by the citys inhabitants - through their use of this civic infrastructure, violence, protest and street demonstrations. In the process the book also traces the ways in which the once proverbial City of Palaces turned by the early twentieth century into a city of endemic unrest and political strife. Ghosh breaks new ground by exploring the history of colonial urbanization from below through a wide range of sources, from street songs and photographs to local histories and memoirs, in addition to the more well-known official archives. 0In bringing together for the first time both known and unknown histories of the city in imaginative ways, the book weaves a vibrant narrative of everyday life in colonial Calcutta. Scandal, rumour, murder and music help locate energetic lower layers of public sphere in the city that were deeply invested in the urban. By highlighting the tensions of living in a rapidly changing world of technological innovations, social and moral dilemmas, municipal strictures and grinding poverty, the book establishes Calcuttas residents not as passive consumers but rightful claimants to the city.

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • Gandhi: The Peaceful Revolutionary
    Gandhi: The Peaceful Revolutionary
    By Anna Claybourne

    This book charts the fascinating life of Mahatma Gandhi, president of the Indian National Congress and peaceloving protestor for independence.

  • Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
    Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
    By William Dalrymple

    Award-winning, critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling William Dalrymple takes us to the heart of an undiscovered India

  • Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in Indian Religion and Culture
    By James McHugh

    James McHugh offers the first comprehensive examination of the concepts and practices related to smell in pre-modern India.

  • Ancient Indian Metallurgy
    By Ashoka Kumar Mishra

    The vital role of Geoecology and mineral resources of India in furtherance of metallurgical innovation is also one of the prime aspects of this monograph. This excellent book will be useful to scholars andm students of metallurgy.

  • DK Eyewitness Books: Gandhi
    DK Eyewitness Books: Gandhi
    By Kindersley Dorling, Juhi Saklani

    Follow in Gandhi's steps as this book helps you uncover his role in key historical moments, like the Partition of India, the Dandi March and the Quit India Movement.

  • The Ultimate India Quiz Book
    The Ultimate India Quiz Book
    By Derek O`brien

    ... India Penguin Group ( USA ) Inc. , 375 Hudson Street , New York , New York 10014 , USA Penguin Group ( Canada ) , 90 Eglinton Avenue East , Suite 700 , Toronto , Ontario , M4P 2Y3 , Canada ( a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc. ) ...

  • India 1900-47
    India 1900-47
    By Rosemary Rees, Martin Collier

    Heinemann Advanced History titles focus on periods of great change in countries that are once again taking centre stage in world politics.

  • The Indian Naval Revolt of 1946
    The Indian Naval Revolt of 1946
    By Percy S. Gourgey

    We relaxed in the small ward - room at the CCO and Punnu Khan went on to Castle Barracks to talk to the strike leaders . Somewhat later we received a signal that the Admiral ( Flag Officer , Bombay ) who had heard of the evening's ...

  • Drawing the Line
    Drawing the Line
    By Howard Brenton

    A vivid telling of the chaotic story of the partition that shaped the modern world.

  • Bitten by the Bullet: Motorcycle Adventures in India
    Bitten by the Bullet: Motorcycle Adventures in India
    By Steve Krzystyniak, Karen Goa

    Bitten By The Bullet is the story of how Steve Krzystyniak and Lily, his partner - both long-time global wanderers who now live Waiheke Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf - came to set up and operate an innovative motorcycle tour company ...