Reconstructing India: Disunity in the Science and Technology for Development Discourse, 1900-1947

Abstract

The turn of the twentieth century saw the apogee of the British Empire in India, while at the same time the seeds of decolonization sprouted. The last decades of the Raj (1930s and 1940s) saw some flickers of "constructive imperialism," but these came too late. By then, nationalism had gathered strength. Indian leaders--including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru--and the government raced to raise development issues and debate the role of science and technology therein. By 1937, many committees had been formed and reports published, and the push was on to make India a modern nation-state. At first sight, there seemed to be unity of purpose, but in reality this was not so. As this paper shows, the thin veneer of the development discourse evaporated when put under pressure by class interests.

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