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Globalization
and Cultural Boundaries: An
Anthropological Perspective
-- Aliaa
R Rafea
While
anthropological and social scholarly works have been concerned
with demonstrating how the flow of people, trade, and ideas
affect local people in different parts of the world, either
by emphasizing adherence to local traditions as a counter
reaction to global hegemony, or discussing the changing
aspects of cultures and identities within the context of
transnationalism as a process that followed globalization,
this paper takes the subject to another dimension where
it critically examines the underlying premises of globalizing
the world, yet it charts out a path to find our human universals.
Using anthropological theories, this paper revisits aspects
of the relativity of cultures. It aims at drawing another
vision of observing how the world can come to common terms
through understanding the inherited reasons for clashes,
not from an ideological perspective, but through using anthropological
premises, supported by its findings. In order to do that,
it demonstrates the fallacy of dichotomizing our history
into east and west, or the west and the rest, and clarifies
the confusion between political and cultural conflicts.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
The
Transformation from a Pre-colonial to a Colonial Order:
The Case of India
-- Om
Prakash
This
paper takes a long-term view of the major developments in
the Indian economy ever since the beginning of the contacts
with Europe in the early modern period. It is argued that
the long-distance trade between Europe and India in the
pre-colonial period served as an instrument of growth in
the output, income, and employment in the Indian economy.
While this situation underwent a change during the early
colonial period, there is a strong likelihood that the structure
of manufacturing production in regions such as Bengal continued
to be marked by a reasonable degree of vitality and capacity
to deliver. The profile of a vibrant agricultural sector
and rural economy in the region in the second half of the
18th century presented in the paper seeks to
revise substantially the orthodoxy in the historiography
on the subject. The full-fledged impact of the colonial
relationship between Britain and India came into play only
in the 19th and the first half of the 20th
century. The subcontinent witnessed only a limited amount
of economic growth during this period. This growth would
almost certainly have been substantailly greater if the
Indian economy had not been subjected to colonial rule.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Commercial
Organization and Companies: A Study on Eastern Coast of
India with Special Reference to Orissa During 17th
and 18th Centuries
-- K
N Sethi
The
growing relevance for `maritime history', in terms of understanding
the material wealth of India, has been able to generate
a huge corpus of scholarly works detailing the foreign trade
potential India had nurtured through the ages. Precisely,
the transition period, from medieval to modern times, in
the annals of Indian history has some uniqueness by heralding
a competitive scenario among the European trading companies.
The commercial organization of Eastern Coast with specific
reference to Orissa during the 17th and 18th
centuries has been rightly captured in the present paper.
Besides providing the factual information relating to English
East India Company's operations in the coastal Orissa during
the period of study, it offers wide scope for evaluating
the commercial interaction between native tradesmen and
Britishers. This would also lead to a proper understanding
of the evolution of commercial centers in Orissa.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Debts,
Treatment of Debtors and the Practice of Civil Law in Pondicherry
(1743-1778)
-- S
Jeyaseela Stephen
With
the advent of the French in the coastal village of Puthucherry
(Pondicherry) in 1674 the inland and overseas trade developed
slowly. The settlement also developed gradually into black
town and white town. Merchants and traders flocked in due
course of time to conduct trade and commerce. At this time,
the credit system also came to be organized by the indigenous
bankers. The issuance of hundis had enabled the drawee to
transfer money from Pondicherry to other important towns
in South India. This paper examines the system of credit,
treatment of debtors, and the other related problems faced
by the bankers and financiers in Pondicherry besides the
salient features of the native customs and legal system
then in vogue.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Book
Review
British
Rule on Indian Soil: North India in the First Half of the
Nineteenth Century
-- Author:
Michael Mann Reviewed
by
Prof. Laxman D Satya
This
interesting book critically analyzes the agrarian and environmental
history of the Ganga-Jamuna Doab region. The observations
of Morris D Morris and the Cambridge School of South Asian
historiography stand criticized as imperialist and colonialist.
Accordingly, the welfare of the society was never the object
of the British Raj as Morris suggests. Nor was the colonial
state an outcome of the indigenous despotic system independent
of the headquarters in London as Chris Bayly, David Washbrook
and company surmise. What the latter two fail to notice
is that the British colonial state in India was starkly
characterized by its close links to the British Empire,
rigorous collection of revenue, and transformation of agriculture.
© 1999 Michael Mann. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review.
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