History of social conflicts and nationalism in Bombay, 1928-1932.

Empires and Boundaries: Rethinking Race, Class, and Gender in Colonial Settings is an exciting collection of original essays exploring the meaning and existence of conflicting and coexisting hierarchies in colonial settings. With investigations into the colonial past of a diversity of regions – including South Asia, South-East Asia, and Africa – the dozen notable international scholars collected here offer a truly inter-disciplinary approach to understanding the structures and workings of power in British, French, Dutch, German, and Italian colonial contexts. Integrating a historical approach with perspectives and theoretical tools specific to disciplines such as social anthropology, literary and film studies, and gender studies, Empires and Boundaries: Rethinking Race, Class, and Gender in Colonial Settings, is a striking and ambitious contribution to the scholarship of imperialism and post-colonialism and an essential read for anyone interested in the revolution being undergone in these fields of study.

This book is a collection of eight essays that bring together Bipan Chandra s finest writings on colonialism and nationalism in India, spanning two decades. The author in these essays puts forth the core elements of colonialism: the complex integration of the colony with the world capitalist system in a subordinate position; a distinct historical stage which modernised colonial societies without initiating a process of independent economic development; a system which while it continued to subordinate the colonial economy, displayed three distinct phases each characterised by a unique pattern of domination and surplus extraction; a structure where the colonial state was an instrument for subordinating all the social and economic classes of the colony, while it served the interests of the metropolitan bourgeoisie.

This book describes and analyzes the emergence and evolution of the Indian capitalist class and its relationship with imperialism and nationalism. It also provides a comprehensive economic history of colonial India in the first half of the 20th century. Based on extensive empirical data, this is the first detailed, thoroughly researched and comprehensive account of the position of the Indian capitalist class.