A Joint Enterprise: Indian Elites and the Making of British Bombay

(Paperback)

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It was the era of the Raj, and yet A Joint Enterprise reveals the unexpected role of native communities in the transformation of the urban fabric of British Bombay from 1854 to 1918. Preeti Chopra demonstrates how British Bombay was, surprisingly, a collaboration of the colonial government and the Indian and European mercantile and industrial elite who shaped the city to serve their combined interests.

Reviews

"A Joint Enterprise is an ambitious, original, and interesting book on a valuable topic. Preeti Chopra provides unique interpretations of, among other things, the Indian reception and interpretation of the neo-Gothic architecture of the colonial regime." Anthony King, author of Spaces of Global Cultures: Architecture, Urbanism, Identity

"A Joint Enterprise is an extremely able and well-informed survey of an interesting subject."The Times Literary Supplement

"Chopras monograph is a true contribution to bringing architectural practice and perception into the history of Bombay city."Journal of Asian Studies

"Offers a skillfully crafted and nuanced reading of the colonial experience that challenges the polemics of racial and cultural segregation while articulating far more complex hierarchies of power."Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

"A Joint Enterprise provides a fabulous history of colonial domination and resistance through architectural and urban development in colonial Bombay."South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies

"One ends Chopras engaging book wondering if the first major dents to colonial Bombays famed cosmopolitanism came from these segregating medical and housing policies rather than events like the Hindu-Muslim Riots of 1893." Hamazor

"Offers a new perspective on urban social history." Enterprise and Society

"Vital to understanding the architectural genealogy of the city." Buildings & Landscape

"This book is a valuable addition to the literature on South Asian urbanism. The joint public realm is a useful effort to conceptualize the manner in which Indians engaged with notions like the public." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient

"Preeti Chopras A Joint Enterprise is a detailed, well-researched, illuminating work that makes a clear argument: colonial cities are far less colonial than we imagine. [It] is a major accomplishment, clearly the product of intensive research over many years by a scholar deeply committed to and knowledgeable in her chosen field." Interventions

"As ambitious as it is imaginative, this book combines critical perspectives on the materiality and visibility of the modern city with an insightful examination of the agency of both colonial rulers and indigenous subjects. Elegantly presented and effectively developed." Victorian Studies

Author Bio

Preeti Chopra is associate professor of visual culture studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.