The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half ... more The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half of the twentieth century indicates that judges, policemen and colonial subjects shared the belief that reports of crime made to the police, the 'First Information Reports' or FIRs, were often fabricated, resulting in what was termed a 'false case'. This article argues that the prevalence of 'false cases' does not simply point to a colonial state that was weak in the countryside or whose judicial machinery had gone awry. Rather, the filing of police reports provided a mechanism for villagers to insert the disputes that were part of everyday life into the state's legal apparatus and to make claims using the language of colonial law. The documentary practices of the colonial state thus shaped local politics, so that registering complaints with the police was an event in rural conflict, not simply the means of resolving conflict that had occurred earlier or elsewhere. Equally, these negotiations for local power through registering cases reaffirmed the authority of the colonial state in everyday practices that emerged around the figure of the policeman and in the space of the colonial police station.
... explained by general backwardness. The most telling figure in Table 4 is that with the penetr... more ... explained by general backwardness. The most telling figure in Table 4 is that with the penetration of microfinance - particularly in the case of Andhra Pradesh, we find an outlet for every 52 households. If these outlets are used ...
In Gentlemanly Terrorists, Durba Ghosh uncovers the critical place of revolutionary terrorism in ... more In Gentlemanly Terrorists, Durba Ghosh uncovers the critical place of revolutionary terrorism in the colonial and postcolonial history of modern India. She reveals how so-called 'Bhadralok dacoits' used assassinations, bomb attacks, and armed robberies to accelerate the departure of the British from India and how, in response, the colonial government effectively declared a state of emergency, suspending the rule of law and detaining hundreds of suspected terrorists. She charts how each measure of constitutional reform to expand Indian representation in 1919 and 1935 was accompanied by emergency legislation to suppress political activism by those considered a threat to the security of the state. Repressive legislation became increasingly seen as a necessary condition to British attempts to promote civic society and liberal governance in India. By placing political violence at the center of India's campaigns to win independence, this book reveals how terrorism shaped the m...
The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 2017
The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half ... more The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half of the twentieth century indicates that judges, policemen and colonial subjects shared the belief that reports of crime made to the police, the ‘First Information Reports’ or FIRs, were often fabricated, resulting in what was termed a ‘false case’. This article argues that the prevalence of ‘false cases’ does not simply point to a colonial state that was weak in the countryside or whose judicial machinery had gone awry. Rather, the filing of police reports provided a mechanism for villagers to insert the disputes that were part of everyday life into the state’s legal apparatus and to make claims using the language of colonial law. The documentary practices of the colonial state thus shaped local politics, so that registering complaints with the police was an event in rural conflict, not simply the means of resolving conflict that had occurred earlier or elsewhere. Equally, these negotiat...
Police custodial violence was a normal occurrence in the southern Indian province of Madras throu... more Police custodial violence was a normal occurrence in the southern Indian province of Madras through the twentieth century, across the colonial and postcolonial periods alike. While governmental authorities attributed torture to individual deviants and the press attributed the practice to a lack of government will in punishing offenders, this article locates police impunity in broader structures of power that permeated society. Specifically, it shows how the deployment of seemingly objective forms of evidence in adjudicating cases of torture—the testimony of respectable persons, medical expertise, and police writing—discounted the voices of victims of violence, reaffirming instead policing’s alignment with class, caste, and gendered authority. Equally, the very act of witnessing produced some subjects as socially privileged by virtue of their respectable status, their expertise, or their literacy, further separating them from bodies that were vulnerable to state violence. Police sove...
The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half ... more The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half of the twentieth century indicates that judges, policemen and colonial subjects shared the belief that reports of crime made to the police, the 'First Information Reports' or FIRs, were often fabricated, resulting in what was termed a 'false case'. This article argues that the prevalence of 'false cases' does not simply point to a colonial state that was weak in the countryside or whose judicial machinery had gone awry. Rather, the filing of police reports provided a mechanism for villagers to insert the disputes that were part of everyday life into the state's legal apparatus and to make claims using the language of colonial law. The documentary practices of the colonial state thus shaped local politics, so that registering complaints with the police was an event in rural conflict, not simply the means of resolving conflict that had occurred earlier or elsewhere. Equally, these negotiations for local power through registering cases reaffirmed the authority of the colonial state in everyday practices that emerged around the figure of the policeman and in the space of the colonial police station.
... explained by general backwardness. The most telling figure in Table 4 is that with the penetr... more ... explained by general backwardness. The most telling figure in Table 4 is that with the penetration of microfinance - particularly in the case of Andhra Pradesh, we find an outlet for every 52 households. If these outlets are used ...
In Gentlemanly Terrorists, Durba Ghosh uncovers the critical place of revolutionary terrorism in ... more In Gentlemanly Terrorists, Durba Ghosh uncovers the critical place of revolutionary terrorism in the colonial and postcolonial history of modern India. She reveals how so-called 'Bhadralok dacoits' used assassinations, bomb attacks, and armed robberies to accelerate the departure of the British from India and how, in response, the colonial government effectively declared a state of emergency, suspending the rule of law and detaining hundreds of suspected terrorists. She charts how each measure of constitutional reform to expand Indian representation in 1919 and 1935 was accompanied by emergency legislation to suppress political activism by those considered a threat to the security of the state. Repressive legislation became increasingly seen as a necessary condition to British attempts to promote civic society and liberal governance in India. By placing political violence at the center of India's campaigns to win independence, this book reveals how terrorism shaped the m...
The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 2017
The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half ... more The judicial archive pertaining to the southern districts of Madras Presidency in the first half of the twentieth century indicates that judges, policemen and colonial subjects shared the belief that reports of crime made to the police, the ‘First Information Reports’ or FIRs, were often fabricated, resulting in what was termed a ‘false case’. This article argues that the prevalence of ‘false cases’ does not simply point to a colonial state that was weak in the countryside or whose judicial machinery had gone awry. Rather, the filing of police reports provided a mechanism for villagers to insert the disputes that were part of everyday life into the state’s legal apparatus and to make claims using the language of colonial law. The documentary practices of the colonial state thus shaped local politics, so that registering complaints with the police was an event in rural conflict, not simply the means of resolving conflict that had occurred earlier or elsewhere. Equally, these negotiat...
Police custodial violence was a normal occurrence in the southern Indian province of Madras throu... more Police custodial violence was a normal occurrence in the southern Indian province of Madras through the twentieth century, across the colonial and postcolonial periods alike. While governmental authorities attributed torture to individual deviants and the press attributed the practice to a lack of government will in punishing offenders, this article locates police impunity in broader structures of power that permeated society. Specifically, it shows how the deployment of seemingly objective forms of evidence in adjudicating cases of torture—the testimony of respectable persons, medical expertise, and police writing—discounted the voices of victims of violence, reaffirming instead policing’s alignment with class, caste, and gendered authority. Equally, the very act of witnessing produced some subjects as socially privileged by virtue of their respectable status, their expertise, or their literacy, further separating them from bodies that were vulnerable to state violence. Police sove...
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