The influence of British political thought in China and India: the cases of sun Yat-sen, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of British political thought in China and India. It concerns the life and work of three of the most important nationalist leaders: Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) in China and Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) in India. The analysis connects the British aspects of their life and work, which are neither fully understood nor sufficiently appreciated, with their political thought. The first section surveys the existing primary and secondary literature, focusing on the life and work of Sun, Gandhi and Nehru, and outlines the relevant strands of British political thought. The following sections contain an analysis of the political thought of Sun, Gandhi and Nehru within the framework established in the first section, under the headings of nationalism, democracy and socialism. This thesis reveals a distinctive and profound collection of influences which further the understanding of Sun, Gandhi and Nehru's political thought and constitute an important consideration in assessing the cogency of that thought. Although some profound differences existed between India and China, and between Sun, Gandhi and Nehru, it is evident that there were a number of similarities in the impact of British political thought. Britain provided a rich heritage of political thought and wealth of experience regarding its implementation in practice from which Sun, Gandhi and Nehru could draw in constructing their own political thought. The sophisticated and measured incorporation of British influences tends to support a more positive assessment of Sun, Gandhi and Nehru, not only as nationalist leaders but also as political thinkers

Does working with spouses make teams more productive? A field experiment in India using NREGA

経済学 / EconomicsAn important question in labour economics is whether the presence in a work environment of friends or relations lowers or raises productivity. We examine the question using evidence from a simple field experiment in Uttar Pradesh, India with married wives and husbands. Teams of four are engaged to dig soil under the NREGA programme. In one treatment husbands and wives work together; in the other treatment they work in separate teams. We find that working with spouses is associated with significantly higher productivity.JEL Classification Codes: C9, D1, D7, M5, O1http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/munro_alistair

"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire

Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work