Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta
The Making of Calcutta
Seiten
2019
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-1-108-44334-0 (ISBN)
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-1-108-44334-0 (ISBN)
What happens when a distant colonial power tries to tame an unfamiliar terrain in the world's largest tidal delta? This history, which spans from 1760 to 1920, demonstrates how colonial property law and hydraulic engineering transformed the ecology of the Bengal delta to drain Calcutta.
What happens when a distant colonial power tries to tame an unfamiliar terrain in the world's largest tidal delta? This history of dramatic ecological changes in the Bengal Delta from 1760 to 1920 involves land, water and humans, tracing the stories and struggles that link them together. Pushing beyond narratives of environmental decline, Bhattacharyya argues that 'property-thinking', a governing tool critical in making land and water discrete categories of bureaucratic and legal management, was at the heart of colonial urbanization and the technologies behind the draining of Calcutta. The story of ecological change is narrated alongside emergent practices of land speculation and transformation in colonial law. Bhattacharyya demonstrates how this history continues to shape our built environments with devastating consequences, as shown in the Bay of Bengal's receding coastline.
What happens when a distant colonial power tries to tame an unfamiliar terrain in the world's largest tidal delta? This history of dramatic ecological changes in the Bengal Delta from 1760 to 1920 involves land, water and humans, tracing the stories and struggles that link them together. Pushing beyond narratives of environmental decline, Bhattacharyya argues that 'property-thinking', a governing tool critical in making land and water discrete categories of bureaucratic and legal management, was at the heart of colonial urbanization and the technologies behind the draining of Calcutta. The story of ecological change is narrated alongside emergent practices of land speculation and transformation in colonial law. Bhattacharyya demonstrates how this history continues to shape our built environments with devastating consequences, as shown in the Bay of Bengal's receding coastline.
Debjani Bhattacharyya is Assistant Professor of History at Drexel University, Philadelphia. She was a Junior Fellow of the American Institute of India Studies, and a former Research Fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden.
Introduction. Almanac of a tidal basin; Part I. Environmental Consolidations: 1. Power and silt; 2. Drying a delta; Part II. Legal Maneuvers: 3. Notarizing possessions; 4. Commerce in land; Part III. Un-real Estate: 5. Speculative properties; Conclusion: disappearing coastlines.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 06.06.2019 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Studies in Environment and History |
| Zusatzinfo | Worked examples or Exercises; 6 Maps; 4 Halftones, black and white |
| Verlagsort | Cambridge |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 153 x 230 mm |
| Gewicht | 400 g |
| Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Wirtschaftsgeschichte |
| Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz | |
| Naturwissenschaften ► Geowissenschaften ► Geologie | |
| Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-108-44334-6 / 1108443346 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-108-44334-0 / 9781108443340 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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