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Round Table Conference Geographies: Constituting Colonial India in Interwar London

Autor Stephen Legg
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 10 mai 2023
"The Round Table Conference (RTC) met over three sessions in London between 1930-1932, its aim being to sketch out the next stage of India's constitutional advance within the British empire. Although it led directly to the Government of India Act of 1935, the conference is unanimously read as a failure. It failed to win over the Indian National Congress, it failed to reconcile communal demands, and it failed to entice the Princely States into immediate federation. As such, the RTC features in neither histories of imperial nor international conferences, nor is it acknowledged as a predecessor of the wave of decolonial conferences that began in the 1950s. This book argues that the RTC demands serious attention as a vital site of Indian and imperial politics in the interwar years. It explores four conference geographies, which balance an attention to imperial governmentality with evidence of "diplomatic subaltern" labour. The role of dominion, dyarchy and community are explored as "imaginary geographies". The conference method, staff and its palace locations expose conference "infrastructures". Spaces of official hospitality, socialising and domestic networking highlight London as a "conference city". And, finally, the "representational spaces" of the conference are read through petitions and protests, and the ways in which the conference was represented as a failure. The book concludes by asking who gained through this representation and by showing what we gain through exploring the conference as a teeming political, social and material space"--
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9781009215312
ISBN-10: 1009215310
Pagini: 375
Dimensiuni: 162 x 236 x 28 mm
Greutate: 0.64 kg
Ediția:Nouă
Editura: Cambridge University Press
Colecția Cambridge University Press
Locul publicării:Cambridge, United Kingdom

Cuprins

List of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgements; Note on Conclusions, Spellings and Abbreviations; 1. Introduction: Squaring Round Tables; Part I. Geographical Imaginations: 2. Dominion and Dyarchy: The Absent Presences; 3. Community: A Nation and a Table Divided; Part II. Conference Infrastructures: 4. The Conference Method: Between Intention and Desire; 5. Staffing the Conference: Experts and Subaltern Diplomats; 6. The Speech Factory: Palace Materials and Communication Technologies; Part III. The Conference City: 7. A Hospitable City?: Official Socialising; 8. Social London: Residing and Dining; 9. At Homes: Political Hostessing and Homemaking; Part IV. Representations: 10. Petitions and Protests: The Page and the Street; 11. Failure: Ending and Failing; 12. Conclusion: Squaring Round Tables; Notes; References; Index.

Recenzii

'To think about the geographies of the Round Table Conference is to appreciate that what occurred 'behind the scenes' was absolutely consequential to 20th century global imperial history. Legg shows how critical a variety of infrastructures - from palaces, flats and tearooms to gavels, coat racks and washstands - were to both official and subaltern diplomacy during this watershed interwar event. If London was the great unacknowledged delegate to the conference, its most public and most intimate spaces are key to understanding the role of cultural relations in the history of India's pathway to full political sovereignty. Thanks to Legg's amazing footwork, we have a whole new understanding of all the rooms where it happened.' Antoinette Burton, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
'Legg radically reimagines the Round Table Conference (RTC), often relegated to a stodgier sideshow of state-making and nationalism on the ground, by focusing on the politics of representation, labour, infrastructure and space that went into making the RTC. In doing so, he shows how Indian delegates at the RTC innovated new spaces of internationalist politics and challenged Western stereotypes of backwardness. Elegantly crafted, and engagingly written, Legg offers us rich theoretical tools and incisive methods to understand the production of internationalism in the 20th century.' Rohit De, Yale University
'This compelling, beautifully written and detailed account of the Round Table Conference brings together geographies of colonialism and diplomacy to exemplify how colonial democracy was practised. Stephen Legg brings to attention a largely overlooked conference and the deliberations that occurred and extended beyond the meeting venue itself, providing captivating insights into how representation, communication and decision-making unfolded. The book includes evocative details of how the Indian delegates negotiated the simultaneously racist and hospitable landscape of 1930s London and draws on archival material to illuminate their experiences of being lavishly entertained at tea parties, receptions and soirees. Legg offers a distinctly geographical exploration of a unique historical event that highlights how liberalism and imperialism were being played out in the interwar period. In bringing together geo-political debates with the intricacies of practices and encounters, this book both delights and challenges the reader.' Uma Kothari, University of Manchester
'Legg helps us understand the contentious relationship between empire and democratisation through an underappreciated forum - the conference. With forensic and careful argumentation, Legg provides an intimate political geography of power and representation.' Robbie Shilliam, Johns Hopkins University

Notă biografică


Descriere

Explores the spaces and events of the interwar Round Table Conference which drafted the blueprint for colonial India's constitutional future.