News from the Global History and Culture Centre
'Conscience and Victorian Empire' an online talk by Priya Satia (Stanford)
Webinar series: 'Conversations in Global History' at the EUI (Florence)
Organizers: Pieter M. Judson, Lucy Riall, Giorgio Riello (EUI)
A series of discussions with prominent scholars in the field of global history.
Each conversation will take place at 17:00-18:30 (Florence time) and each will involve a reading to be distributed in advance of the session.
The myth of the market: The fall and rise of the Indian economy
Public Lecture: Professor Bishnupriya Gupta
In 1947 India was one of the poorest countries in the world. Did colonial rule lower living standards? Evidence on wages and estimates of per capita GDP from 1600 show that living standards declined absolutely and relatively before colonization and continued to stagnate under British rule. The decline coincided with increased integration with international markets and expansion of the transport network. The high point of prosperity before modern economic growth was in 1600 during the reign of Emperor Akbar and before the rising trade in textiles. Indian growth reversal began in independent India with the policies of regulation of trade and industry. The changing fortunes of the Indian economy had depended on the fortunes of agriculture and public investment in agricultural infrastructure and technology.
The lecture is open to all staff, students and the general public.