Dissertation Research: The Technological Transition from Natural to Artificial Indigo from the Perspectives of Science, Commerce, and Politics in Colonial India, c. 1860-1914

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This is a Science and Technology Studies dissertation improvement grant. The proposed dissertation examines the conduct of science and the process of technological innovation in the political and economic context of global colonization. Funds under this grant would provide the means to examine relevant materials in several British archives. The researchers will develop a case study of European planters based in colonial India who organized the production and distribution of natural indigo as they responded to a sudden challenge posed by synthetic substitutes manufactured in Germany. The project will take a transnational, interdisciplinary perspective. It will examine manufacturers and researchers in India, including both field-based agronomists and laboratory-centered chemists, as well as key consumers and policy makers in Britain. The dissertation will contribute to several areas of academic interest: the literatures of Science and Technology Studies, South Asian history, colonial history, economic and business history, and innovation studies. The study will have implications of relevance to policy makers and business people attempting to comprehend the dynamics of scientific R & D and seeking to ascertain how changing global dynamics influence the character of science and the process of technological change.