Humanities & Social Sciences
Jute and empire
by Andrew Thompson, John M. MacKenzie, Gordon Stewart
Description
Dundee had an interesting role to play in the jute trade, but the main player in the story of jute was Calcutta. This book follows the relationship of jute to empire, and discusses the rivalry between the Scottish and Indian cities from the 1840s to the 1950s and reveals the architecture of jute's place in the British Empire. The book adopts significant fresh approaches to imperial history, and explores the economic and cultural landscapes of the British Empire. Jute had been grown, spun and woven in Bengal for centuries before it made its appearance as a factory-manufactured product in world markets in the late 1830s. The book discusses the profits made in Calcutta during the rise of jute between the 1880s and 1920s; the profits reached extraordinary levels during and after World War I. The Calcutta jute industry entered a crisis period even before it was pummelled by the depression of the 1930s. The looming crisis stemmed from the potential of the Calcutta mills to outproduce world demand many times over. The St Andrew's Day rituals in Calcutta, begun three years before the founding of the Indian Jute Mills Association. The ceremonial occasion helps the reader to understand what the jute wallahs meant when they said they were in Calcutta for 'the greater glory of Scotland'. The book sheds some light on the contentious issues surrounding the problematic, if ever-intriguing, phenomenon of British Empire. The jute wallahs were inextricably bound up in the cultural self-images generated by British imperial ideology.
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Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo [DRC], Congo, Republic of the, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hongkong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, China, Macedonia [FYROM], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Cyprus, Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan
Endorsements
This magnificent book combines cultural, social, economic and political history in a quite remarkable way. Based on fascinating primary research in India, England and Scotland, it represents a new departure in the writing of imperial history. Jute and Empire follows the intriguing story of the rivalry between Calcutta and Dundee from the 1830s to the 1950s as these two cities competed in the world jute trade. It uses this dramatic narrative to explore fresh ways of understanding the multi-faceted nature of the British Empire. Recent scholarship on British imperialism has been divided between economic analysis and cultural readings. Jute and Empire pursues both strategies by integrating economic, political, social and cultural history in an ambitious effort to understand, through the window provided by jute, the interaction of Bengal and Scotland within the broader context of the British raj.
Reviews
This magnificent book combines cultural, social, economic and political history in a quite remarkable way. Based on fascinating primary research in India, England and Scotland, it represents a new departure in the writing of imperial history. Jute and Empire follows the intriguing story of the rivalry between Calcutta and Dundee from the 1830s to the 1950s as these two cities competed in the world jute trade. It uses this dramatic narrative to explore fresh ways of understanding the multi-faceted nature of the British Empire. Recent scholarship on British imperialism has been divided between economic analysis and cultural readings. Jute and Empire pursues both strategies by integrating economic, political, social and cultural history in an ambitious effort to understand, through the window provided by jute, the interaction of Bengal and Scotland within the broader context of the British raj.
Author Biography
John MacKenzie is Emeritus Professor of Imperial History, Lancaster University and holds Honorary Professorships at Aberdeen, St Andrews and Stirling, as well as an Honorary Fellowship at Edinburgh.;
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Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is a leading UK publisher known for excellent research in the humanities and social sciences.
View all titlesBibliographic Information
- Publisher Manchester University Press
- Publication Date March 2017
- Orginal LanguageEnglish
- ISBN/Identifier 9781526121486 / 1526121484
- Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
- FormatWeb PDF
- ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
- Publish StatusPublished
- Dimensions234 X 156 mm
- Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 3635
- SeriesStudies in Imperialism
- Reference Code9977
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