Colonialism As Civilizing Mission: Anthem World History

Inherent in colonialism was the idea of self-legitimation, the most powerful tool of which was the colonizer's claim to bring the fruits of progress and modernity to the subject people. In colonial logic, people who were different because they were inferior had to be made similar - and hence equal - by civilizing them. However, once this equality had been attained, the very basis for colonial rule would vanish.Colonialism as Civilizing Missionexplores British colonial ideology at work in South Asia. Ranging from studies on sport and national education, to pulp fiction to infanticide, to psychiatric therapy and religion, these essays on the various forms, expressions and consequences of the British ls"civilizing missionrs" in South Asia shed light on a topic that even today continues to be an important factor in South Asian politics.

Michael Mann is Assistant Professor and Senior Lecturer at the Fern Universitaet, Hagen. He has written several books on colonial India, including British Rule on Indian Soil: North India in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century (Manohar, 1999) and The Transformation of Bengal: The Emergence of the British Colonial State, 1754–93 (F Steiner Verlag, 2000).