This essay strives to probe the trajectory of politics of knowledge in the context of India’s politics of development in two specific time periods—the colonial and the post-colonial. The chosen empirical case through which the inquiry will be undertaken is the case of cultivation of the indigo dye. The primary interrogation of this work stands as follows: can a case for epistemicide be made with regards to certain practices of development instantiated herein by the cultivation of the indigo dye in the time-periods cited above? If so, then how? Furthermore, the essay also seeks to understand the differences that exist in the way which the politics of epistemicide plays out in both these temporal contexts. Hence, if there are any differences, what would they be? Finally, how does such politics of knowledge implicate a developmental democracy like India? The methodology pursued is analytical and comparative.
AlvarezC. (2010). Science. In SachsWolfgang (Ed.), The development dictionary (pp. 243–259). London, United Kingdom: Zed Books. London: Zed Books.
2.
Balfour-PaulJ. (1998). Indigo. London, United Kingdom: British Museum Press.
3.
BandopadhyayS. (2015). From Plassey to partition and after: A history of modern India. Hyderabad, India: Orient BlackSwan.
4.
BeerJ. J. (1959). The emergence of the German dye industry. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
5.
BhattacharyaS. (1977, July). The indigo revolt of Bengal. Social Scientist, 5(12), 12–23.
6.
BilgramiU. (2002). A future vision of natural dyeing in India (Unpublished paper for the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action, Plan (NBSAP)). Retrieved from ced.org.in.
7.
CammarotaK. (2019, April). Indigo dye is affecting the water supply in India. The Borgen Project. Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/indigo-dye-is-affecting-the-water-supply-in-india/
8.
ChandraB., MukherjeeM., MukherjeeA., PanikkarK. N., & MahajanS. (1989). India’s struggle for independence. New Delhi, India: Penguin.
9.
ChattopadhyayP. (2018). Colour as a symbol. The Indian Express. Retrieved from https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/textile-designer-padmini-tolatbalaraman-colour-as-a-symbol-5469710/
10.
ChaudhuriB. B. (2008). Peasant history of late pre-colonial and colonial India. New Delhi, India: Orient Longman.
11.
ChaudhuriK. N. (1968). Review of the blue mutiny: The indigo disturbances in Bengal, 1859–1862 by Blair B. Kling. Bulletin of the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, 31(1), 170–171.
12.
DebD. (2009). Beyond developmentality: Constructing inclusive freedom and sustainability. London, United Kingdom: Earthscan.
13.
East India Company (1836). Culture and manufacture of indigo. Report on the Proceedings of the East India Company. London: East India Company.
14.
ElkanaY. (2000). Rethinking-––not unthinking––the enlightenment. In KrullW. (Ed.), Debates on our common Future (pp. 284–285). Volkswagen Foundation Symposium (Velbruck Wissenschaft).
15.
EsetevaG. (2010). Development. In SachsW. (Ed.), The development dictionary (pp. 1–23). London & New York: Zed Books.
16.
GhildiyalS. (2010, February20). Moral economy and the indigo movement. Economic & Political Weekly, 45(8), 67–72.
17.
KlingB. B. (1966). The blue mutiny: The indigo disturbances in Bengal, 1859–1862. Philadelphia: Oxford University Press.
18.
KumarP. (2004). Facing competition: The history of indigo experiments in colonial India, 1897–1920. Georgia, USA: Georgia Institute of Technology.
19.
KumarP. (2012). Indigo plantations and science in colonial India. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
20.
MacphersonD. (1812). The history of the European commerce with India. London, United Kingdom: Longman et al.
21.
MalavisiA. (2019). Epistemic injustice and distortion in development theory and practice. In DrydykJ. & KeleherL. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of development ethics (p. 460). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
22.
MenonM. (2019, April24). Neeli Raag: Swati Dandekar Chronicles India’s 4,500-year-old tradition of indigo dyeing. Firstpost. Retrieved from https://www.firstpost.com/living/neeli-raag-swati-dandekar-chronicles-indias-4500-year-old-tradition-of-indigo-dyeing-6485001.html
23.
NandyA. (1988). Science, hegemony and violence: A requiem for modernity. Tokyo, Japan: United Nations University.
24.
PaceyA (1983). The culture of technology. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
25.
ReddyD. N. (2015). Denial of public funds: Handloom sector in union budgets. Economic & Political Weekly, 50(6), 24–27.
26.
RodneyW. (1973). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Dar es Salaam: Tanzania Publishing House and London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications.
27.
SamalM.C. (2018). Tracing the blues. The Voice of Fashion. Retrieved from https://thevoiceoffashion.com/sustainability/responsible-fashion/Tracing-the-Blues-1837
28.
SantosB. D. (2008). Another knowledge is possible: Beyond northern epistemologies. London, United Kingdom: Verso.
29.
SenA. (1999). Development as freedom. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf.
30.
SenA. (2009). The idea of justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
31.
SenA. (2010). The idea of justice. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books.
UmarjiV. (2012). Spiralling indigo prices burn hole in denim making companies’ pockets. Business Standard. Retrieved from https://www.business-standard.com/article/economypolicy/spiralling-indigo-prices-burn-hole-in-denim-making-companies-pockets-112060902015_1.html
34.
VisvanathanS. (2014). The last trustee of indigo. The Hindu. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-last-trustee-of-indigo/article6630582.ece
