4 - Reformist Collaboration and the Formation of an Imperial Civil Society

Summary

The colonial state’s institutionalized secrecy had produced an anomaly that reformers were keen to resolve. Britons – even those who prided themselves on their humanitarian dispositions – were seemingly unconcerned about the fates of millions of their fellow subjects on the subcontinent. To address this apathy and provide Indians with a greater role in policymaking, reformers attempted to construct an entirely new social formation that is the focus of Chapter 4: an imperial civil society based on inter-associational linkages. Early reformers in the metropole endorsed the establishment of societies in the Indian presidency towns that could provide reliable information on local conditions. Webs of contact also developed on an individual level, as veteran reformers in Britain advised members of the incipient Bombay Association on constitutionalist techniques. Intent on improving deteriorating race-relations in the 1870s, the East India Association continued to identify strategies to increase Britons’ awareness of Indian issues and facilitate the expression of native public opinion.