Harald Fischer-Tiné
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), D-GESS, Faculty Member
Around 20 cyclists from India embarked on long and arduous intercontinental journeys between 1923 and 1942 individually or in groups. Many of these 'globe cyclists', as they were often referred to by the Indian press, later wrote media... more
Around 20 cyclists from India embarked on long and arduous intercontinental journeys between 1923 and 1942 individually or in groups. Many of these 'globe cyclists', as they were often referred to by the Indian press, later wrote media articles and longer travelogues about their expeditions. This article examines the narratives of these long-distance cycling expeditions to argue that these journeys can illuminate new histories of the bicycle's socio-cultural impact beyond the West, the self-fashioning of Indian cyclotourists as an example of complicit masculinity, and world tours as a novel form of anti-imperial counter-mobility. It does so by drawing on several historiographical subfields that have hitherto rarely been mobilized together, namely the histories of sports, masculinity, colonialism and decolonization, tourism, and (everyday) technology. The article focuses pars pro toto on the tours of Adi Hakim, Jal Bapasola, and Rustom Bhumgara (1923-1928) and Ramnath Biswas (1931-1940) that were strongly over-determined by the contexts of colonialism, anti-colonialism, and decolonisation, while nationalist masculinity represented another recurring trope.
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European Seamen as a Problem of Colonial Identity and Order in Calcutta of the 1860s The relationship between the wealthier part of British India's white society and the infamous seaman 'Jack Tar' was ambiguous. In the eyes of... more
European Seamen as a Problem of Colonial Identity and Order in Calcutta of the 1860s The relationship between the wealthier part of British India's white society and the infamous seaman 'Jack Tar' was ambiguous. In the eyes of the colonial administration the seamen's alleged lack of discipline and 'reckless and irrational ways' brought them close to the 'uncivilised natives'. This was a fact regarded as highly disturbing in a colonial setting based on the ideology of racial difference and — at least partly — informed by notions of a civilising mission supposedly entrusted to the British by providence. The problems arising from their presence in Indian seaport towns could not be easily solved by the 'politics of making invisible', as their labour was vital to the empire. Their position was therefore a highly ambivalent one, vacillating between inclusion and exclusion into the fold of 'respectable' white colonial society. In certain cont...
The article explores Asianist discourses that emerged in India from the late9th century through the first decade after independence. The first section gives a general overview of the various historical stages of the Indian involvement... more
The article explores Asianist discourses that emerged in India from the late9th century through the first decade after independence. The first section gives a general overview of the various historical stages of the Indian involvement with Asia during the period under survey as expressed in the writings and speeches of leading intellectuals and politicians. The second section analyses in greater detail three of the most important discursive constructions of a pan-Asian identity from the interwar period: Rabindranath Tagore's influential anti-modernist conception of 'Asia as spiritual counter-Europe'; the powerful trope of Asia as 'Greater India', that gained particular popularity among Hindu nationalist outfits; and the pragmatic and modernist concept of Young Asia', that posited a pan-Asian solidarity as a strategic device in the fight against Western imperialism. With the possible exception of the 'Young Asia' model, it is argued by way of conclusio...
This introductory essay provides an overview of the main subfields of research into the histories of foodstuffs, diet and nutrition in nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Asia, thus situating the contributions to this themed special... more
This introductory essay provides an overview of the main subfields of research into the histories of foodstuffs, diet and nutrition in nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Asia, thus situating the contributions to this themed special section in wider historiographical debates and controversies. It argues that the bulk of existing research has focused either on the conflictual role of food and diet in the colonial encounter, or on the emergence of nutritional sciences in India (and in the countries providing food aid to India) during the post-colonial phase in response to the protracted recurrence of food scarcity in the subcontinent. It subsequently identifies a research lacuna by pointing to the conspicuous absence of historical studies on Dalits and food in spite of the topic’s obvious relevance for the creation and maintenance of social hierarchies. The article ends with short previews of the individual essays assembled in this collection.
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Focusing particularly on the Madras College of Physical Education opened in 1919, this article reconstructs the role of the United States of America-dominated Indian Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in the spread of... more
Focusing particularly on the Madras College of Physical Education opened in 1919, this article reconstructs the role of the United States of America-dominated Indian Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in the spread of physical-education schemes in South Asia between the beginning of the century and the outbreak of the Second World War. American YMCA secretaries stressed the scientific, liberal, and egalitarian character of their 'physical programme' aiming at the training of responsible and self-controlled citizens and therefore supposedly offering an alternative to British imperial sports. The study demonstrates that the Y indeed exercised a considerable influence by acting as adviser to provincial and 'princely' governments as well as through the graduates of the Madras College of Physical Education (MCPE), many of whom became physical directors in educational institutions in India, Burma, Ceylon and other Asian countries. At the same time, it also makes clear that North American models could not be transplanted in a simple or straightforward manner to South Asian contexts. For one, in spite of its representation as a 'school for democracy', the Y's supposedly inclusive and emancipatory discourses and practices of physical fitness remained over-determined by the powerful influences of the colonial discourse of race, and the programme of the Indian Y continued to be rife with the imperial tropes Ligtenberg as well as Modern Asian Studies' anonymous reviewers for reading earlier drafts and making valuable suggestions for the improvement of the text.
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The article contributes to the global history of the First World War and the history of ‘imperial humanitarianism’ by taking stock of the Indian Young Men’s Christian Association’s Army Work schemes in South Asia, Europe and the Middle... more
The article contributes to the global history of
the First World War and the history of ‘imperial
humanitarianism’ by taking stock of the Indian Young Men’s
Christian Association’s Army Work schemes in South Asia,
Europe and the Middle East. The outbreak of the war was
hailed by some American secretaries of the Y.M.C.A.
working in India as presenting overwhelming opportunities
for their proselytising agenda. Indeed, the global conflict
massively enlarged the organisation’s range of activities
among European soldiers stationed in South Asia and for
the first time extended it to the ‘Sepoys’, i.e. Indian and
Nepalese soldiers serving in the imperial army. Financially
supported by the Indian public as well as by the
governments of Britain and British India, the US-dominated
Indian Y.M.C.A. embarked on large-scale ‘army work’
programmes in the Indian subcontinent as well as in several
theatres of war almost from the outset, a fact that clearly
boosted its general popularity. This article addresses the
question of the effects the Y.M.C.A.’s army work schemes
had for the imperial war effort and tries to assess their
deeper societal and political impact as a means of
educating better citizens, both British and Indian. In doing
so, the article places particular emphasis on the activities of
American Y-workers, scrutinising to what extent pre-existing
imperial racial and cultural stereotypes influenced their
perception of and engagement with the European and
South Asian soldiers they wanted to transform into ‘better
civilians’.
the First World War and the history of ‘imperial
humanitarianism’ by taking stock of the Indian Young Men’s
Christian Association’s Army Work schemes in South Asia,
Europe and the Middle East. The outbreak of the war was
hailed by some American secretaries of the Y.M.C.A.
working in India as presenting overwhelming opportunities
for their proselytising agenda. Indeed, the global conflict
massively enlarged the organisation’s range of activities
among European soldiers stationed in South Asia and for
the first time extended it to the ‘Sepoys’, i.e. Indian and
Nepalese soldiers serving in the imperial army. Financially
supported by the Indian public as well as by the
governments of Britain and British India, the US-dominated
Indian Y.M.C.A. embarked on large-scale ‘army work’
programmes in the Indian subcontinent as well as in several
theatres of war almost from the outset, a fact that clearly
boosted its general popularity. This article addresses the
question of the effects the Y.M.C.A.’s army work schemes
had for the imperial war effort and tries to assess their
deeper societal and political impact as a means of
educating better citizens, both British and Indian. In doing
so, the article places particular emphasis on the activities of
American Y-workers, scrutinising to what extent pre-existing
imperial racial and cultural stereotypes influenced their
perception of and engagement with the European and
South Asian soldiers they wanted to transform into ‘better
civilians’.
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Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg erkämpften sich viele Kolonien ihre Unabhängigkeit. Dekolonisation ist jedoch keine klare Zäsur, die einen abrupten Neustart nach sich zog. Sie ist als Fortsetzung der Geschichte des Kolonialismus zu verstehen.
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Außer der Zwangsmigration durch Sklavenhandel gab es zu Kolonialzeiten weitere bedeutende Wanderungsbewegungen. Und zwar sowohl von den imperialen Zentren in die Kolonien, als auch in die entgegengesetzte Richtung. Noch heute sind die... more
Außer der Zwangsmigration durch Sklavenhandel gab es zu Kolonialzeiten weitere bedeutende Wanderungsbewegungen. Und zwar sowohl von den imperialen Zentren in die Kolonien, als auch in die entgegengesetzte Richtung. Noch heute sind die Großstädte der ehemaligen "Mutterländer" geprägt von dieser Migration.
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Kolonialherren gelang es nur selten, eine völlige politische und kulturelle Hegemonie zu etablieren. Verschiedene Formen des Widerstandes, der Verweigerung und der Subversion gehören von Anfang an ebenso zur Geschichte der kolonialen... more
Kolonialherren gelang es nur selten, eine völlige politische und kulturelle Hegemonie zu etablieren. Verschiedene Formen des Widerstandes, der Verweigerung und der Subversion gehören von Anfang an ebenso zur Geschichte der kolonialen Begegnung wie Expansion und Ausbeutung.
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Drinking did not only play an important role in the social life of the Raj, it also provides a useful lens to look at the structure of British colonial presence in the Indian subcontinent and the ideological constructs designed to... more
Drinking did not only play an important role in the social life of the Raj, it also provides a useful lens to look at the structure of British colonial presence in the Indian subcontinent and the ideological constructs designed to legitimise it. The article looks specifically at the patterns of alcohol consumption of the middle and lower social classes of Europeans in India during the period between the suppression of the ‘Mutiny’ and the outbreak of the First World War and analyses the problems they entailed for colonial administrators. Case studies of alcohol abuse among European pilots, sailors, planters and ‘loafers’ reveal the existence of multi-layered drinking codes and throw the class divisions existing in British India's ‘white society’ into stark relief. They also suggest that the drinking habits of ‘low Europeans’ in particular were seen as a vital threat to British rule as they debunked the myth of a British ‘civilising mission’ based on moral superiority and hence triggered various attempts by the colonial élites at inculcating virtues of temperance into the ‘white subaltern’ groups. [T]he drinking habits of our countrymen of all classes, are making a very injurious impression on the natives of India. 1 Than the loafer, the vagrant, the drunken uneducated or debased European, whose passions are under no control, and who is amenable to no public opinion, nothing can be more sad to the Christian and more alarming to the statesman. 2 Western Civilization, the greatest blot on which has been its drinking proclivities, has risen to condemn the habit on social and political grounds; and … social workers in India and Calcutta may seek illumination from the Temperance events transpiring in Europe and America. 3
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Asianisms, that is, discourses and ideologies claiming that Asia can be defined and understood as a homogenous space with shared and clearly defined characteristics, have become the subject of increased scholarly attention over the last... more
Asianisms, that is, discourses and ideologies claiming that Asia can be defined and understood as a homogenous space with shared and clearly defined characteristics, have become the subject of increased scholarly attention over the last two decades. The focal points of interest, however, are generally East Asian varieties of regionalism. That “the cult of Asianism” has played an important role on the Indian subcontinent, too—as is evident from the quote above—is less understood. Aside from two descriptive monographs dating back to the 1970s, there has been relatively little scholarly engagement with this phenomenon. In this article, we would like to offer an overview of several distinct concepts of Asia and pan-Asian designs, which featured prominently in both political and civil society debates in India during the struggle for Independence. Considering the abundance of initiatives for Asian unification, and, in a more abstract sense, discourses on Asian identity, what follows here is necessarily a selection of discourses, three of which will be subjected to critical analysis, with the following questions in mind: (Online publication January 05 2012)
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The Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia provides a comprehensive overview of the historiographical specialisation and sophistication of the history of colonialism in South Asia. It explores the classic works of... more
The Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia provides a comprehensive overview of the historiographical specialisation and sophistication of the history of colonialism in South Asia. It explores the classic works of earlier generations of historians and offers an introduction to the rapid and multifaceted development of historical research on colonial South Asia since the 1990s. Covering economic history, political history, and social history and offering insights from other disciplines and 'turns' within the mainstream of history, the handbook is structured in six parts:
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This book argues that the history of colonial empires has been shaped to a considerable extent by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear and embarrassment as well as by the regular occurrence of panics. The case studies it assembles... more
This book argues that the history of colonial empires has been shaped to a considerable extent by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear and embarrassment as well as by the regular occurrence of panics. The case studies it assembles examine the various ways in which panics and anxieties were generated in imperial situations and how they shook up the dynamics between seemingly all-powerful colonizers and the apparently defenceless colonized. Drawing from examples of the British, Dutch and German colonial experience, the volume sketches out some of the main areas (such as disease, native ‘savagery’ or sexual transgression) that generated panics or created anxieties in colonial settings and analyses the most common varieties of practical, discursive and epistemic strategies adopted by the colonisers to curb the perceived threats
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Exportweltmeisterin, führende Wissenschaftsnation, internationale Finanz- und Rohstoffhandelsdrehscheibe und fast jede/r zweite BewohnerIn des Landes mit Migrationsvordergrund — die Schweiz ist eines der globalisiertesten Länder der Welt.... more
Exportweltmeisterin, führende Wissenschaftsnation, internationale Finanz- und Rohstoffhandelsdrehscheibe und fast jede/r zweite BewohnerIn des Landes mit Migrationsvordergrund — die Schweiz ist eines der globalisiertesten Länder der Welt. Wie kam es dazu?
Diese Veranstaltung bringt HistorikerInnen, KulturwissenschaftlerInnen, PolitikerInnen sowie Vertretende von Verbänden und NGOs zusammen, um einen frischen Blick auf die Geschichte und Gegenwart eines Landes zu wagen, das jenseits seiner aussenpolitischen Neutralität schon seit Jahrhunderten eng mit der Welt verflochten ist. Im Kern geht es um die Frage, wie Gegenwart und Zukunft der Schweiz zu verstehen sind, wenn wir den globalisierten Zustand des Landes nicht als neues, sondern als historisches Phänomen betrachten. Welches Licht werfen die historischen Verwicklungen der Schweiz in den transatlantischen Sklavenhandel, die koloniale Plantagenökonomie, „die Rassenforschung“ und die Missionierung von „Heiden“ in Übersee auf die gegenwärtige Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitik, die Migrations-, Gleichstellungs- und Arbeitsmarktpolitik, oder die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und die Sozialpolitik?
Den Auftakt macht die US-amerikanischen Anthropologin und Historikerin Ann Laura Stoler mit eine Keynote Lecture über das fortwirkende Erbe des europäischen Imperialismus in der globalisierten Gegenwart. Am Tag danach folgen Panels, Roundtables und jede Menge Diskussionen.
Diese Veranstaltung bringt HistorikerInnen, KulturwissenschaftlerInnen, PolitikerInnen sowie Vertretende von Verbänden und NGOs zusammen, um einen frischen Blick auf die Geschichte und Gegenwart eines Landes zu wagen, das jenseits seiner aussenpolitischen Neutralität schon seit Jahrhunderten eng mit der Welt verflochten ist. Im Kern geht es um die Frage, wie Gegenwart und Zukunft der Schweiz zu verstehen sind, wenn wir den globalisierten Zustand des Landes nicht als neues, sondern als historisches Phänomen betrachten. Welches Licht werfen die historischen Verwicklungen der Schweiz in den transatlantischen Sklavenhandel, die koloniale Plantagenökonomie, „die Rassenforschung“ und die Missionierung von „Heiden“ in Übersee auf die gegenwärtige Finanz- und Wirtschaftspolitik, die Migrations-, Gleichstellungs- und Arbeitsmarktpolitik, oder die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit und die Sozialpolitik?
Den Auftakt macht die US-amerikanischen Anthropologin und Historikerin Ann Laura Stoler mit eine Keynote Lecture über das fortwirkende Erbe des europäischen Imperialismus in der globalisierten Gegenwart. Am Tag danach folgen Panels, Roundtables und jede Menge Diskussionen.
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Das aktuelle Geschichtsheft der NZZ ignoriert aktuelle Forschung, präsentiert falsche Fakten und retuschiert historische Quellen
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After revisiting transnationally oriented historiography from within a regional South Asian ambit, this article makes a plea for a very specific take on global history-writing that promises to appeal especially to historians who have... more
After revisiting transnationally oriented historiography from within a regional South Asian ambit, this article makes a plea for a very specific take on global history-writing that promises to appeal especially to historians who have learned to value dense regional / cultural contextualisation. . Comparativ | Zeitschrift für Globalgeschichte und vergleichende Gesellschaftsforschung, forthcoming (2020) Heft ?, pp. 49-74.