Labors of Malwa: Opium, Environment, Work and the Making of Modern Life in the Nineteenth Century, c.1790-1918 Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

This dissertation titled, “Labors of Malwa: Opium, Environment, Work and the MakingofModern Life” explores the entanglements of working lives in the nineteenth century. Focusing on the work of opium-poppy cultivation and opium production in the Central Indian province of Malwa, I explore the hidden life forms that contributed to the agrarian landscapes on the fringes of the British Empire. By privileging human labor and making it central to human ontology, this dissertation goes on to interrogate the historical and philosophical genealogies of the ecological precarities of our present conjuncture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

 

Lists of Tables and Illustrations

Introduction: Opium on a Plateau

1

Chapter 1: Earth

31

Chapter 2: Water

76

Interlude: Food

108

Chapter 3: Ether

142

Chapter 4: Work

176

Afterlife

210

Bibliography

216

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	History
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	History of Science History, Asia, Australia and Oceania Environmental Philosophy
Keyword	Actor-Network-Theory opium agrarian history capitalism ecology
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Gyan Pandey, Emory University
Committee Members	Judy Bieber, UNM Vinay Gidwani, University of Minnesota Thomas Rogers, Emory University Tonio Andrade, Emory University

Last modified

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	File download under embargo until 18 June 2026	2020-04-30 11:14:58 -0400	File download under embargo until 18 June 2026

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions