The Poor Indians

Between the English Civil War of 1642 and the American Revolution, countless British missionaries announced their intention to "spread the gospel" among the native North American population. Despite the scope of their endeavors, they converted only a handful of American Indians to Christianity. Their attempts to secure moral and financial support at home proved much more successful. In The Poor Indians, Laura Stevens delves deeply into the language and ideology British missionaries used to gain support, and she examines their wider cultural significance. Invoking pity and compassion for "the poor Indian"—a purely fictional construct—British missionaries used the Black Legend of cruelties perpetrated by Spanish conquistadors to contrast their own projects with those of Catholic missionaries, whose methods were often brutal and deceitful. They also tapped into a remarkably effective means of swaying British Christians by connecting the latter's feelings of religious superiority with moral obligation. Describing mission work through metaphors of commerce, missionaries asked their readers in England to invest, financially and emotionally, in the cultivation of Indian souls. As they saved Indians from afar, supporters renewed their own faith, strengthened the empire against the corrosive effects of paganism, and invested in British Christianity with philanthropic fervor. The Poor Indians thus uncovers the importance of religious feeling and commercial metaphor in strengthening imperial identity and colonial ties, and it shows how missionary writings helped fashion British subjects who were self-consciously transatlantic and imperial because they were religious, sentimental, and actively charitable.

Nandini Gooptu's magisterial 2001 history of the labouring poor in India represents a tour-de-force.

With the advent of Aboriginal street gangs such as Indian Posse, Manitoba Warriors, and Native Syndicate, Winnipeg garnered a reputation as the “gang capital of Canada.” Yet beyond the stereotypes of outsiders, little is known about these street gangs and the factors and conditions that have produced them. “Indians Wear Red” locates Aboriginal street gangs in the context of the racialized poverty that has become entrenched in the colonized space of Winnipeg’s North End. Drawing upon extensive interviews with Aboriginal street gang members as well as with Aboriginal women and elders, the authors develop an understanding from “inside” the inner city and through the voices of Aboriginal people – especially street gang members themselves. While economic restructuring and neo-liberal state responses can account for the global proliferation of street gangs, the authors argue that colonialism is a crucial factor in the Canadian context, particularly in western Canadian urban centres. Young Aboriginal people have resisted their social and economic exclusion by acting collectively as “Indians.” But just as colonialism is destructive, so too are street gang activities, including the illegal trade in drugs. Solutions lie not in “quick fixes” or “getting tough on crime” but in decolonization: re-connecting Aboriginal people with their cultures and building communities in which they can safely live and work.

Examination of Indian poverty in our cities using the context of one city - Saskatoon.

A Compelling Work On The Cultural Character Of The Indian People&Both Provocative And Revealing -Shyam Benegal In Outlook A Remarkably Perceptive Analysis Of Indian Character -Khushwant Singh In This Bold, Illuminating And Superbly Readable Study, India S Foremost Psychoanalyst And Cultural Commentator Sudhir Kakar And Anthropologist Katharina Kakar Investigate The Nature Of Indian-Ness . What Makes An Indian Recognizably So To The Rest Of The World, And, More Importantly, To His Or Her Fellow Indians? For, As The Authors Point Out, Despite Ethnic Differences That Are Characteristic More Of Past Empires Than Modern Nation States, There Is An Underlying Unity In The Great Diversity Of India That Needs To Be Recognized. Looking At What Constitutes A Common Indian Identity, The Authors Examine In Detail The Predominance Of Family, Community And Caste In Our Everyday Lives, Our Attitudes To Sex And Marriage, Our Prejudices, Our Ideas Of The Other (Explored In A Brilliant Chapter On Hindu-Muslim Conflict), And Our Understanding Of Health, Right And Wrong, And Death. In The Final Chapter, They Provide Fascinating Insights Into The Indian Mind, Shaped Largely By The Culture S Dominant, Hindu World View. Drawing Upon Three Decades Of Original Research And Sources As Varied As The Mahabharata, The Kamasutra, The Writings Of Mahatma Gandhi, Bollywood Movies And Popular Folklore, Sudhir And Katharina Kakar Have Produced A Rich And Revealing Portrait Of The Indian People. An Important Book&A Readable And Carefully Considered Statement On The Issue Of Identity Pavan Varma In India Today