Article ID: CBB172923573

Useful & Reliable: Technological Transformation in Colonial India (April 2021)

unapi

Roy, Tirthankar (Author)


Technology and Culture
Volume: 62
Issue: 2
Pages: 494-520


Publication Date: April 2021
Edition Details: Special Issue: Technology Is Global: The Useful and Reliable Knowledge Debate
Language: English

The proposition that Useful and Reliable Knowledge (URK) produced divergent patterns of long-term economic growth implies that such knowledge had weak agency in countries that fell behind. This article rejects such a theory on the evidence of colonial India. Indo-European contacts activated transfer, transplantation, and adaptation in URK; however, the impact was uneven within India. Despite boosting productivity in manufacturing and consumption, large areas were left untouched. These contrasts highlight the differentiated impact of URK on production conditions in India and question its transferability and mode of knowledge exchange under colonialism.

...More
Associated with

Article Dagmar Schäfer; Simona Valeriani (April 2021) Technology Is Global: The Useful & Reliable Knowledge Debate. Technology and Culture (pp. 327-347). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB172923573/

Similar Citations

Article Simona Valeriani; (April 2021)
Grasping the Body: Physicians, Tailors, and Holy People (/isis/citation/CBB719121642/)

Book Jarrell, Richard A.; Hull, James P.; (1991)
Science, technology and medicine in Canada's past: Selections from Scientia canadensis (/isis/citation/CBB001180524/)

Article Kuijpers, Maikel H. G.; (April 2019)
Materials and Skills in the History of Knowledge: An Archaeological Perspective from the "Non-Asian" Field (/isis/citation/CBB672185525/)

Article Berg, Maxine; (2013)
Useful Knowledge, “Industrial Enlightenment”, and the Place of India (/isis/citation/CBB001421541/)

Book Pickstone, John V.; (2000)
Ways of knowing: A new history of science, technology and medicine (/isis/citation/CBB000110733/)

Article Pickstone, John V.; Worboys, Michael; (2011)
Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001022862/)

Article Paula De Vos; (2019)
The Past and Future of Early Modern Pharmacy History (/isis/citation/CBB001984498/)

Article Fabio De Sio; Heiner Fangerau; (2019)
The Obvious in a Nutshell: Science, Medicine, Knowledge, and History (/isis/citation/CBB502676594/)

Article William Eamon; (2018)
Corn, Cochineal, and Quina: The “Zilsel Thesis” in a Colonial Iberian Setting (/isis/citation/CBB085994099/)

Thesis Kizhakke Nedumpally, Sunandan; (2012)
Ways of Knowing: Asaris, Nampoothiris and Colonialists in Twentieth Century Malabar, India (/isis/citation/CBB001561007/)

Chapter Spear, Jeffrey L.; (2010)
A South Kensington Gateway from Gwalior to Nowhere (/isis/citation/CBB001201874/)

Thesis Deirdre Moore; (2021)
The Heart of Red: Cochineal in Colonial Mexico and India (/isis/citation/CBB209904775/)

Article Roy, Tirthankar; (2007)
Out of Tradition: Master Artisans and Economic Change in Colonial India (/isis/citation/CBB001031015/)

Thesis Krishnan, Shekhar; (2013)
Empire's Metropolis Money Time & Space in Colonial Bombay, 1870--1930 (/isis/citation/CBB001567494/)

Article Phalkey, Jahnavi; (2013)
Focus: Science, History, and Modern India: Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001320194/)

Authors & Contributors
Pickstone, John V.
Moore, Deirdre
Bhargava, Prakrati
Kuijpers, Maikel H. G.
Krishnan, Shekhar
Berg, Maxine
Concepts
History of science, as a discipline
History of medicine, as a discipline
Colonialism
History of technology, as a discipline
Crafts and craftspeople
Historiography
Time Periods
19th century
Early modern
20th century, early
Modern
21st century
20th century
Places
India
Bombay (India)
Nepal
Bhutan
Bangladesh
England
Institutions
East India Company (English)
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment