Hamiltons vision för Indiens landsbygd : En postkolonial analys av ett utvecklingsprojekt under kolonialtiden.

Focused mostly on ecology, literary, and political studies: Sundarbans is not a new area of study forscholars. What remains a more locally known phenomenon is the presence of a Scottish man DanielHamilton in the island of Gosaba. How can one place his project today, as one writes history fromthe present day. This study delves into his vision to develop Gosaba, through among other thingsconversations he had with contemporaries like Tagore and Gandhi. Hamilton’s project is testimonyto a time when colonial agency was sought through developmentalist ideal. Through an analysis ofnewspaper articles, letters, speeches and manuscripts the study problematizes the colonial eraproject. It reveals how Hamilton’s ideas were formulated during politically tumultuous times inIndian history when agriculture was being commodified. It reveals how smeared by nationalistanxieties and India’s right of self-determination, his project gained legitimacy through the discourseof civilization and welfare. It draws a conclusion, that the Gosaba project created on papermanifested in the development of only a few, at the behest of many.