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

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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
Palavra-chave	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

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