Producing ‘Useful’ Anti-Imperialist Knowledge as a Means of Subsistence: The Multiple Lives and Audiences of Devendra Nath Bannerjea

Presenter:

---

Abstract

In the first half of the 20th century, European cities became vibrant meeting points for anti-imperial actors. Transcending local, national and/or imperial boundaries they lobbied like-minded individuals, civil society groups and international organisations to support their anti-imperialist agendas and established networks of protest, solidarity and knowledge exchanges. By tracing the life-history of one such actor, Devendra Nath Bannerjea (1889-1954), from Ludhiana in the British Indian Punjab, via Oxford, London, Geneva, Rome to Berlin, the presentation examines the comprehensive and detailed knowledge he produced on two themes for diverse audiences: (1) the nature and consequences of colonialism in India, and (2) the future Indian nation-in-the making. Not just the changing nature of his political concerns, but also private aspects, especially his rather precarious living situation, had an effect upon Bannerjea’s intellectual output. Against this background, it is of interest to ask how daily living conditions of anti-imperial actors, different political environments and varying expectations of various audiences influenced and shaped the knowledge production and circulation.