Re: [Foucault-L] Tensions between governmentalities

Hi Steve,

On India, I noticed that the following book is out. It looks interesting and substantial. Has anyone read it? It seems to be developing aspects of Poulantzas's reading of Foucault in _State, Power, Socialism_ (especially what he says regarding space and time, and also individualization) but I'm wondering how it incorporates aspects of later governmentality work within postcolonial studies; it seems to draw on Stoler (Race and the Education of Desire) and Dirks (Castes of Mind). Details taken from amazon.com below

best of luck with this project - I'm interested to read the results

David


Producing India : From Colonial Economy to National Space (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)
by Manu Goswami

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From the Inside Flap
When did categories such as a national space and economy acquire self-evident meaning and a global reach? Why do nationalist movements demand a territorial fix between a particular space, economy, culture, and people?

Producing India mounts a formidable challenge to the entrenched practice of methodological nationalism that has accorded an exaggerated privilege to the nation-state as a dominant unit of historical and political analysis. Manu Goswami locates the origins and contradictions of Indian nationalism in the convergence of the lived experience of colonial space, the expansive logic of capital, and interstate dynamics. Building on and critically extending subaltern and postcolonial perspectives, her study shows how nineteenth-century conceptions of India as a bounded national space and economy bequeathed an enduring tension between a universalistic political economy of nationhood and a nativist project that continues to haunt the present moment.

Elegantly conceived and judiciously argued, Producing India will be invaluable to students of history, political economy, geography, and Asian studies.

About the Author
Manu Goswani is an assistant professor of history and East Asia studies at New York University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226305090
• Product Dimensions: 9.0 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds. (View shipping rates and policies)


On 20/07/2005, at 11:56 PM, S. Legg wrote:

Hello list members,

I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice or references with regards
to the tensions between the domains/realms of government to which Foucault
referred in his later governmental work. I am particularly interested in
the way in which “biopolitical” and “economic” rationalities may have come
into conflict. Colin Gordon mentioned such tensions in his introduction to
the Foucault Effect, namely, the effects on the urban environment and
working classes of un-regulated laissz faire economics. Mitchell Dean has
also commented on the tensions between rationalities that may reasonably be
said to coexist within a regime of liberal governmentality.

To set some context, I am interpreting the private writings a
low(ish)-level administrator in colonial India, who was put in charge of
urban improvement in the 1930s. His views were incredibly ambivalent
towards the central government, but this was not just the colonial, and
psychological, ambivalence of Homi Bhabha. Rather, this was a commitment to
the colonial ideas of Progress and Improvement, but a growing distaste for
imperial financial restrictions. As such, a tension became apparent between
the colonial economic model of non-intervention and maximum profit and the
emerging European model of welfare in which the lives of the “native”
population should have been cared for. This tension was also, of course, in
evidence in European cities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, but I
suspect it was starker and longer lasting in the colonial context.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

Steve



-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr Stephen Legg
Department of Geography
University of Cambridge
Downing Place
Cambridge
CB2 3EN
www.geog.cam.ac.uk/people/legg/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~


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