Colonialism, development, and the environment : railways and deforestation in British India, 1860-1884 / Pallavi V. Das.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Das, Pallavi V., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Railroads--Environmental aspects--India--History--19th century.
• Deforestation--India--History--19th century.
• Economic development--Environmental aspects--India--History--19th century.
• Forest conservation--India--History--19th century.
• Colonial influence.
• History.
• Economic conditions.
• Environmental conditions.
• Forest conservation.
• Economic development--Environmental aspects.
• Deforestation.
• Railroads--Environmental aspects.
• Railroads.
• India--Environmental conditions--History--19th century.
• India--Economic conditions--19th century.
• India--Colonial influence--History--19th century.
• India--History--British occupation, 1765-1947.
• India.
• Ecology.
• Economic history.

Genre:

• History.

Physical Description:

xix, 189 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Summary:

"This book focuses on the colonial encounter between Britain and India in the field of economic development, including scientific/technological changes, and the environmental impact of this encounter on India. Through the institutions of the colonial state, Das argues, the metropole (Britain) initiated economic development strategies in the colony (India) in order to efficiently extract resources from it. While colonial encounters have been seen by scholars more or less in economic and political terms, what is largely missing is the fact that the metropole's economic development strategies had definite ecological consequences for the colony. This book aims to fill that gap with an examination of how the railways led to deforestation in colonial India. The deforestation, in turn, put at risk the entire project of railway expansion. This led to state implementation of forest conservation. Conservation, however, was also an economic-developmental project whose main aim was to maintain timber supplies for the railways rather than care for ecological concerns. Thus the history of colonialism has both economic (and political) as well as ecological dimensions"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

• Introduction
• 1. Railways and Development in Colonial India
• 2. Railways' Sleeper Demand and Deforestation
• 3. The Forests and Railway Fuel Supply
• 4. Hugh Cleghorn and Forest Conservation in India
• Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 9781137494566
• 1137494565

OCLC:

909320407