The Reconstruction of unity: Meanings of rural development in late colonial India

This study thus aims at throwing light to alternative notions of India’s cultural, social and economic renaissance which were circulated during the final decades of the colonial period and in various ways contributed to the vision of India that would come into being after independence. It focuses on Bengal’s response to Gandhi which was significantly conditioned both by certain regional cultural traits, as well as the colonial constraints faced by Bengali urban elites as they approached the ‘rural question’ as part of their own idea of ‘nation in the making’. Other, pre-existing plans for rural development, notably those enacted by Rabindranath Tagore in various phases of his life as a Bengali landlord, a member of the Calcutta intellectual elite, and Nobel laureate of international standing, receive special attention as they reflect a distinct perception of India’s present needs and future aspirations.