This book explores the shift from colonial rule to independence in India and Pakistan, with the aim of unravelling the explicit meaning and relevance of 'independence' for the new citizens of India and Pakistan during the two decades post 1947. While the study of postcolonial South Asia has blossomed in recent years, this volume addresses a number of imbalances in this dynamic and highly popular field. Firstly, the histories of India and Pakistan after 1947 have been conceived separately, with many scholars assuming that the two states developed along divergent paths after independence. Thus, the dominant historical paradigm has been to examine either India or Pakistan in relative isolation from one another. Viewing the two states in the same frame not only allows the contributors of this volume to explore common themes, but also facilitates an exploration of the powerful continuities between the pre- and post-independence periods.
- Offers a timely perspective on early postcolonial South Asian history and poses fresh question about the nature of the state
- Explores the shift from colonial rule to independence in India and Pakistan
- Discusses Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state
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Product details
- Date Published: March 2014
- format: Hardback
- isbn: 9781107064270
- length: 258 pages
- dimensions: 237 x 159 x 12 mm
- weight: 0.5kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction Taylor C. Sherman, William Gould and Sarah Ansari
1. Personal law and citizenship in India's transition to independence Eleanor Newbigin
2. From subjects to citizens? Rationing, refugees and the publicity of corruption over independence in UP William Gould
3. Performing peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state Yasmin Khan
4. Migration, citizenship and belonging in Hyderabad (Deccan), 1946–1956 Taylor C. Sherman
5. Punjabi refugees' rehabilitation and the Indian state: discourses, denials and dissonances Ian Talbot
6. Sovereignty, governmentality and development in Ayub's Pakistan: the case of Korangi Township Markus Daechsel
7. Everyday expectations of the state during Pakistan's early years: letters to the Editor, Dawn (Karachi), 1950–1953 Sarah Ansari
8. Concrete 'progress': irrigation, development and modernity in mid-twentieth century Sind Daniel Haines
9. Partition narratives: displaced trauma and culpability among British civil servants in 1940s Punjab Catherine Coombs
Contributors
Index.
Look Inside
Editors
Taylor C. Sherman, London School of Economics and Political Science
Taylor C. Sherman is lecturer at Department of International History, London School of Economics. Dr Sherman's research concerns the cultural and political history of India in the transition from colonial rule to independence in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Her publications include State Violence and Punishment in India (2010).
William Gould, University of Leeds
William Gould is professor of Indian History at School of History, University of Leeds. He researches on the politics of religious conflict and 'communalism' in South Asia, and the historical narratives of South Asian migrants to the UK after 1947. His publications include Hindu Nationalism and the Language of Politics in Late Colonial India (2004) and Religion and Conflict in South Asia (2012).
Sarah Ansari, University of London
Sarah Ansari is Reader at Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London. Her research interests focus on the recent history of South Asia, in particular those parts of the subcontinent that became Pakistan in 1947.
Contributors
Taylor C. Sherman, William Gould, Sarah Ansari, Eleanor Newbigin, Yasmin Khan, Ian Talbot, Markus Daechsel, Daniel Haines, Catherine Coombs