Technologies of peasant production and reproduction: The post-colonial state and cold war empire in Comilla, East Pakistan, 1960–70

Tariq Omar Ali

doi:10.1080/00856401.2019.1590788

Technologies of peasant production and reproduction: The post-colonial state and cold war empire in Comilla, East Pakistan, 1960–70

Tariq Omar Ali

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Abstract

In December 1959, the newly-constituted Pakistan Academy of Rural Development received permission to create a ‘laboratory’, that is, to conduct experiments in rural development upon peasants in Comilla, East Pakistan. This paper explores the enmeshing of post-colonial state formation and Cold War American development practices through an examination of how the Academy’s built environments, everyday practices and discourses were shaped by agricultural and contraceptive technologies. It examines how the Academy transformed a Gandhian ashram into a display and distribution centre for these technologies, and how technologies informed the Academy’s discourses on peasant religiosity and shaped peasant understandings of state and empire.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	435-451
Number of pages	17
Journal	South Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies
Volume	42
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00856401.2019.1590788
State	Published - May 4 2019

Keywords

American empire
Cold war
Contraception
Development
East Pakistan
Family planning
Green revolution
Peasants
Post-colonial states
Third world

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cultural Studies
Development
History
Sociology and Political Science

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10.1080/00856401.2019.1590788

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title = "Technologies of peasant production and reproduction: The post-colonial state and cold war empire in Comilla, East Pakistan, 1960–70",

abstract = "In December 1959, the newly-constituted Pakistan Academy of Rural Development received permission to create a {\textquoteleft}laboratory{\textquoteright}, that is, to conduct experiments in rural development upon peasants in Comilla, East Pakistan. This paper explores the enmeshing of post-colonial state formation and Cold War American development practices through an examination of how the Academy{\textquoteright}s built environments, everyday practices and discourses were shaped by agricultural and contraceptive technologies. It examines how the Academy transformed a Gandhian ashram into a display and distribution centre for these technologies, and how technologies informed the Academy{\textquoteright}s discourses on peasant religiosity and shaped peasant understandings of state and empire.",

keywords = "American empire, Cold war, Contraception, Development, East Pakistan, Family planning, Green revolution, Peasants, Post-colonial states, Third world",

author = "Ali, \{Tariq Omar\}",

note = "I would like to thank Firdous Azim, Brian Jefferson, Simin Patel and attendees of the History Workshop at the University of Illinois for reading and commenting upon drafts of this article. I have presented my research on the Comilla experiments at the Edward M. Kennedy Centre in Dhaka, the University of Texas, Austin, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Yale University, where I have received very helpful comments and suggestions. I had the particular pleasure of meeting Peter Bertocci at Michigan and Harry Blair at Yale, both of whom lived in Comilla during the 1960s and have written extensively about the Comilla experiments. I am deeply grateful to the two anonymous reviewers of South Asia journal for their incisive and helpful criticisms and comments.",

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Technologies of peasant production and reproduction: The post-colonial state and cold war empire in Comilla, East Pakistan, 1960–70

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