Between Empire and Nation
South Asian Humanitarianism in the late Colonial Period
Will be published approx. on 25. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
355 pages
978-1-009-56952-1 (ISBN)
Description
This is a comprehensive history of South Asian humanitarian aid in the context of armed conflicts in the colonial period. Adopting an international and transnational approach, the book focuses on relief initiatives from the First World War to the Second World War and the early post-war years. Through five case studies, this book offers new insights into the history of volunteer societies and non-state organisations in British India. It enhances readers' understanding of late colonial public and political activism on the Indian subcontinent. The book makes a significant contribution to the global history of humanitarianism, offering a nuanced understanding of the subject. This is achieved through an in-depth, context-sensitive exploration of relief work in a non-Western setting, focusing on the significance of Indian actors for the development of a transnational civil society.This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
ISBN-13
978-1-009-56952-1 (9781009569521)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 06/2026
Cambridge University Press
€136.39
Not yet published
Person
Maria Framke is a historian of modern South Asia based at the History Department at Erfurt University in Germany. Her research and publications cover the history of international organisations, humanitarianism and development, and gender in the 20th century. She co-edited the 2023 Routledge Handbook of the History of Colonialism in South Asia.
Content
List of Figures and Table; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Imperial Humanitarianism and Nationalism during the First World War: Introduction; 1. Growing with and beyond the Red Cross Movement: The Relief Work of the Indian St. John Ambulance Association during the First World War; 2. 'Our Proud Privilege to Nurse the Indian Soldiers Back to Health!': The Indian Field Ambulance Training Corps; Part II. Anti-imperial Solidarity and Relief in the 1930s; Introduction: 3. Humanitarianism as Tool of Anticolonial Emancipation: The Indian Medical Mission to China; Part III. Intra-imperial Non-state Relief Work in the Context of the Second World War and Early Decolonization: Introduction; 4. 'A Remarkable Piece of Humanitarian Work': The Indian Comforts Fund; 5. National Self-assertion and Anticolonial Emancipation: The (Medical) Relief Work of the Indian National Congress in Malaya; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.