'Protect Yourself,' the Ideas of Worth in Colonial Bombay

'Protect Yourself,' the Ideas of Worth in Colonial Bombay

In the 19th and early 20th century, the message to native communities in Bombay was largely, "protect yourselves." In contrast, the colonial government asumed to role of protector for the European community.

The ASU Institute for Humanities Research invites faculty, students and the community to join us for a lecture as part of The Colonial, the Postcolonial, and the Decolonial research cluster. 

"Protect Yourself: Government, Communities and Charity in Colonial Bombay"

In this lecture, Preeti Chopra, professor of architecture, urban studies and visual studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will demonstrate how a study of Bombay’s charitable institutions provides a deeper understanding of what British colonials deemed as worthy objects of charity in western India. It is not simply the dichotomy between colonial engagements with charitable institutions for Europeans and native communities that is of interest. What is unexpected and enlightening is that the government's relationship with the charitable institutions of native religious communities — Parsi, Hindu, Muslim and Jewish — was not always the same.

Based on these varied engagements, this talk reveals the colonial government’s complex and diverging ideas of worth. 

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Ross-Blakley Hall Room 196