Becoming Imperial Citizens: Indians in the Late-Victorian Empire

priyanka — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

It’s important to state here that Becoming Imperial Citizens is a work of research best suited for academic audiences. The upper-level vocabulary, combined with analysis, makes for quite a heavy reading.

Sukanya Banerjee’s work looks at the British Empire and citizenship with reference to Indians during, as the title notes, the late Victorian period. From documents covering Mahatma Ghandi’s early years in South Africa to Cornelia Sorabji (Oxford’s first female law student), Banerjee examines the complexities of Indian citizenship under imperial control.

The text provides many examples of how difficult it was for Indian citizens to actually be treated as such. The British system, while quite ideal on paper, did not treat its Indian subjects as citizens. Nevertheless, India proved to be more progressive than England itself when it came to achieving franchise. A good example is Dadabhai Naoroji, who utilized colonial language to appease Britain while advocating for India’s needs. For the good of England, he argued, her Indian subjects required the same rights and justice as her English-born.

To complicate matters, even when individuals like Surendranath Banerjea (one of the first Indians with the Indian Civil Service) complied with empirical expectations, they did not become citizens. Indians had to travel all the way to London, England to take the ICS exam, which greatly reduced Indian chances of admission—many Indians simply couldn’t afford the trip. When Banerjea made it into the ICS, a supposedly permanent position, he was overworked at first, and then expelled. He attempted to go to plan B, law, but his history with ICS ruined his chances. Ghandi, in his writings, also noted discrimination against Indians in South Africa, which was evident as soon as he arrived there.

Banerjee does not merely examine British-educated Indians; she presents their writings and documents to show that the Indian caste system was another obstacle to gaining real citizenship within the empire. Professional occupations in India were a privilege, for the elite. The exam for ICS, for example, was opened to those who did not have a university education but ‘crammer’ preparation. To keep up the lower class individuals who passed the ICS exam, candidates had to show mastery of such elite skills as horsemanship and ‘gentlemanly’ manners. In gaining a foothold for Indian traders in South Africa, Ghandi himself initially downplayed unskilled labourers, conforming to the stereotypes of the day.

While fighting for the right of real citizenship, the affluent people presented in Banerjee’s analysis were well aware of the intricate factors involved in imperial politics. They knew how to play the imperial game in order to make small, gradual gains towards the goal of realized citizenship for all Indian subjects.

Becoming Imperial Citizens is a great resource for anybody studying the British Colonial Regime’s legal, social, or political history. The struggle for equal status in daily living is not specific to India, but experienced by all former British colonies. When taking action against the government, it took inspirational actions to gradually tear down racial, class, and gender obstacles to citizenship for all.

Written by: Nicolette Westfall, October 10th 2010

Personal Moments in the Lives of Victorian Women: Selections from Their Autobiographies (Book 1)

admin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:27:00 +0000

Edited by Abigail Burnham Bloom

Edwin Mellen Press

I have to admit that when I received my copy of Personal Moments in the Lives of Victorian Women, I wasn't exactly excited to snuggle up and read it from start to finish. The cover art is not particularly appealing, as it depicts an antique black and white photo of a rather serious and unhappy looking woman, and makes the book look about as inviting as a textbook. However, as I read the preface I quickly realized Abigail Burnham Bloom's compilation of Victorian women's autobiographies would be more interesting and revealing than I had originally expected.

In the preface, Gina Luria Walker, a professor of women's studies at The New School, writes, "women do not have formal tradition of writing about themselves because they have long been considered unreliable and potentially disruptive." Walker goes on to point out that "Bloom's scholarly production...demonstrates the compelling need of women from disparate parts of that culture to tell their stories, despite the prevailing cultural mores that a woman not have an inner life or unusual adventures to write about." This collection was like a Victorian Vagina Monologues—well, minus the orgasms.

The autobiographical selections of women like Elizabeth Barrett and Frances Hodgson Burnett are categorized by subject—such as youth, marriage, and career. Many selections from this book made me grateful to live in a modern America, where most women are developed to be more than just attractive wives. In the Victorian era "girls were encouraged to learn languages, dancing, art, geography, music, and other subjects that would make them attractive to potential husbands. Generally speaking, parents wanted their daughters to be cultured, but not to be intellectuals." We have come a long way since then, and Bloom's collection gives us a look at just how much we've evolved.

After finishing the book, I learned the woman on the cover is actually Bloom's grandmother, Grace Isabelle Clarke. It important that the voices of women like Grace are heard because they are an essential part of feminist history. Women's studies professors, add this to your curriculum; it captures a time in women's history that is not often examined.

I found Personal Moments in the Lives of Victorian Women rather difficult to get through (and I can't say I'm going to pick up Book 2), but let's be honest: no one really chooses to read a textbook in her spare time. Nevertheless, its worth taking a look at. Bloom obviously put a great deal of passion into her research of Victorian women, and I believe it would make a valuable addition to anyone's library.

Written by: Samara Sousa, April 13th 2009

Victorian England

Becoming Imperial Citizens: Indians in the Late-Victorian Empire

Personal Moments in the Lives of Victorian Women: Selections from Their Autobiographies (Book 1)