Bengal in Global Concept History: Culturalism in the Age of Capital

295 Pages·2008·4.415 MB·English

by  Andrew Sartori

Bengal in Global Concept History
chicago studies in practices of meaning
Edited by Jean ComaroJ, Andreas Glaeser, William Sewell, and Lisa Wedeen
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Bengal in Global Concept History
Culturalism in the Age of Capital
A N D R E W S A R T O R I
The University of Chicago Press
chicago and london
andrew sartori is assistant professor of history at New York University.
In addition to being the author of numerous journal articles, he is coeditor of
From the Colonial to the Postcolonial: India and Pakistan in Transition.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2008 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2008
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-73493-4 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-73494-1 (paper)
isbn- 10: 0-226-73493-5 (cloth)
isbn- 10: 0-226-73494-3 (paper)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sartori, Andrew, 1969–
Bengal in global concept history : culturalism in the age of capital / Andrew Sartori.
p. cm. — (Chicago studies in practices of meaning)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-73493-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-73494-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn- 10: 0-226-73493-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn- 10: 0-226-73494-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Culture—social aspects—India—Bengal. 2. Culture—Economic aspects—India—Bengal.
3. Bengal (India)—Civilization. 4. Bengal (India)—Historiography. I. Title.
ds485.b44s345 2008
954(cid:2).14—dc22
2007041822
o The paper used in this publication
meets the minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1992.
Contents
Acknowledgments • vii
chapter one • 1
Bengali “Culture” as a Historical Problem
chapter two • 25
Culture as a Global Concept
chapter three • 68
Bengali Liberalism and British Empire
chapter four • 109
Hinduism as Culture
chapter five • 136
The Conceptual Structure of
an Indigenist Nationalism
chapter six • 176
Reifi cation, Rarifi cation,
and Radicalization
conclusion • 230
Universalistic Particularisms and
Parochial Cosmopolitanisms
Notes • 235
Index • 269

Acknowledgments
dipesh chakrabarty adopted me while I was still a shy undergraduate
wandering the halls of the University of Melbourne in search of a major. He
introduced me to the study of South Asia and to the world of subalternist
and postcolonialist historiography and theory, and his teaching fi red the
enthusiasm that led me into graduate studies in South Asian history at the
University of Chicago. I thank him for his avuncular care and an intellec-
tual generosity that has given me the space to carve out my own theoretical
path.
In my fi rst year at the University of Chicago I encountered the second
major infl uence on my intellectual development, Moishe Postone. His semi-
nar on the fi rst volume of Capital captivated me thanks to the rigor of his
pedagogy, the critical power of his reinterpretation of Karl Marx’s work,
and the sheer profundity of Marx’s writings. I want to thank Moishe for
the unwavering support he has given me, especially through some rocky
moments in my graduate school career. Not only has he had a considerable
impact on my approach to teaching, but it was also his infl uence that set in
motion a long (and perhaps interminable) process of intellectual revision on
my part as I tried to work through the extended implications of his remark-
able reconstruction of Marx’s approach for the kinds of theoretical issues
that I was grappling with in South Asian history.
One inevitable correlate of working with Moishe is participation in the
Social Theory Workshop that he and Bill Sewell have been cosponsoring for
many years at the University of Chicago. This has been an exceptional intel-
lectual environment that approaches works in progress with a rare combina-
viii acknowledgments
tion of incisive criticism and constructive engagement, and I want to thank
all the participants who have given me feedback over the years. Bill Sewell
in particular has a most remarkable ability to think through, and with, other
people’s arguments and intentions, and his criticism has been both invalu-
able intellectually and exemplary pedagogically. Bill was responsible for
bringing my manuscript to the Editorial Board of the Chicago Studies in
Practices of Meaning, who in turn provided me with extremely helpful sug-
gestions about fi nding the right voice for the persuasive presentation of my
argument. Bill personally provided stringent and irreplaceable line-b y-l ine
criticism of the two introductory chapters.
While this book grew out of general theoretical concerns, the specifi c
focus on “culture” as a problem of intellectual history emerged out of a
seminar on the history of anthropology that George Stocking led, and sub-
sequently an especially stimulating qualifying exam reading list that I com-
piled with Jan Goldstein on the concept of civilization in modern European
intellectual history. Jan has been particularly generous with her time and
advice over the years, and that has been much appreciated. Clint Seely taught
me Bangla with preternatural patience. Manu Goswami has been unfailingly
enthusiastic about and supportive of my work. She also gave me very help-
ful advice on the framing of my opening chapters. Gautam Bhadra provided
helpful archival advice and helpful comments while I was in Calcutta. Ralph
Austen has been a provocative and generous interlocutor in several forums
over the years. I have benefi ted from exchanges of ideas with Chris Bayly
and Shruti Kapila, both of whom have been wonderfully encouraging of my
aspirations to a global intellectual history. Sheldon Pollock gave me helpful
advice early on in the development of this project. Ron Inden, although
unsympathetic to my approach, nonetheless was a committed teacher and
insightful reader during the fi rst three years of graduate school. I have been
happily entangled in Paul Magee’s thought processes for many years now,
even though an ocean has separated us for more than a decade. I also ben-
efi ted enormously from the conversation, debate, and company of various
friends at the University of Chicago over the years, especially Dave Como,
Atiya Khan, Spencer Leonard, Mark Loeeer, Rochona Majumdar, Kwai
Hang Ng, Sunit Singh, and Hylton White. The Hunts and Danny Sullivan
were incredibly hospitable during my research stint in London. Thanks to
Dawn Hall for her patience and care in editing the manuscript. And last but
certainly not least I would like to thank David Brent and the University of
Chicago Press for backing this book.
The research for this book was completed with support from the Social
acknowledgments ix
Sciences Research Council and American Council of Learned Societies Inter-
national Dissertation Field Research Fellowship Program, the Woodrow
Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral
Dissertation Fellowship Program, the Committee on Southern Asian Studies
at the University of Chicago, and the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts at
the University of Chicago. I have also benefi ted from the kindness of many
people, not only at the University of Chicago but also from the American
Institute of Indian Studies, the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta
(my host institution in India), the National Library of India, the National
Council of Education, Bengal, and Dhaka University.
Parts of chapter 2 have been previously published by Cambridge Uni-
versity Press as “The Resonance of ‘Culture’: Framing a Problem in Global
Concept- History,” Comparative Studies in Society and History 47, no. 4 (2005):
676– 99. Chapter 5 draws on material previously published by Duke Univer-
sity Press in “The Categorical Logic of a Colonial Nationalism: Swadeshi Ben-
gal, 1904– 1908,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
23, nos. 1 and 2 (2003): 271– 85 (Copyright 2003. Used by permission of the
publisher), and by Cambridge University Press in “Beyond C ulture-C ontact
and Colonial Discourse: ‘Germanism’ and Colonial Bengal,” Modern Intel-
lectual History 4, no. 1 (2007): 77– 93.
None of this could have happened without the patience, love, and gener-
osity of my family. Special thanks to Mum and Dad, Barb and Lee, and Ed.
This book is dedicated to Amy and Izzie, who are gorgeous, fabulous,
funny, and amazing.
Andrew Sartori
November 2007