Fall 2022 - HIST 438W D100

Problems in the History of the British Empire (4)

India Colony to Superpower

Class Number: 3985

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 7 – Dec 6, 2022: Fri, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units including 9 units of lower division history.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An investigation of advanced concepts and methodologies in the history of the British empire. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 438W may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

This writing-intensive course is designed to introduce students to key institutions and experiments in the history of international development as experienced in South Asia, and to introduce students to interdisciplinary critiques of non–western development through one of its most remarkable examples: India. From the mid 20th century, institutions, practices and ideas associated with ‘development’ have accounted for some of the most ambitious experiments in social engineering. In this course we will investigate key experiments in the history of development—from attempts to transform farming and end hunger via the industrial miracle of the Green Revolution in India to attempts to transform sexual practices and stave off poverty via state-dictated population control. The first half of the course will focus on the colonial history of development in its embodiment as colonial projects of ‘improvement’ and ‘civilisation’ during the latter decades of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. In the second half of the course, we will address how formal political independence in South Asia as well as World War II and decolonisation impacted the atmosphere on which developmental programmes could be constructed and executed. Some of the key questions the course will address are - To what degree was development in 20th century South Asia the liberating product of a post-war and postcolonial world order, and to what degree was it merely an heir to British colonialism? What is the relationship between modernisation and colonialism? Why didn’t Five Year Plans work in India? Is it accurate to describe postcolonial Indian development as a ‘suspended revolution’? Academic sources and popular cultural material will be used to explore a wide range of historical issues in development studies.

Grading

  • Class participation 20%
  • 2 Book Reviews (15% each) 30%
  • Portfolio 20%
  • Final project 30%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

  • Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, Routledge,2003 (free e-book)
  • Ramachandra Guha, India after Gandhi: the history of the world’s largest democracy, Pan, 2008. (paperback)

REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html