The torchbearers of progress : youth, volunteer organisations and national discipline in India, c. 1918-1947
The thesis deals with volunteer bodies in India from the end of the Great War to c.1947. It examines the genealogy of these bodies as a projection surface for ideal citizenship, a space to experimentally put those ideas into practice and as site of a mobilisational drive âfrom belowâ rendering these bodies contested spheres of national self-definition. The energies of âYouthâ, both feared and desired by many actors, were sought to be disciplined into volunteer corps and utilised for the building of a disciplined âmodernâ nation. âYouthâ and âvolunteersâ thereby become mutually related categories, the former needing to be transformed into the latter. Several groupings of âvolunteersâ appeared at the time, such as the Seva Dal, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Khaksars, and the Muslim National Guards, all of which were provided paramilitary training and were available for use not only for various âsocial serviceâ activities, but also political intervention and, when necessary, for displays of violence, the latter feature most evident during the Second World War and the communal violence leading up to Partition and Indian Independence. Three levels of analysis are undertaken herein:
Roy, Fanziska
DS Asia
The torchbearers of progress : youth, volunteer organisations and national discipline in India, c. 1918-1947. The thesis deals with volunteer bodies in India from the end of the Great War to c.1947. It examines the genealogy of these bodies as a projection surface for ideal citizenship, a space to experimentally put those ideas into practice and as site of a mobilisational drive âfrom belowâ rendering these bodies contested spheres of national self-definition. The energies of âYouthâ, both feared and desired by many actors, were sought to be disciplined into volunteer corps and utilised for the building of a disciplined âmodernâ nation. âYouthâ and âvolunteersâ thereby become mutually related categories, the former needing to be transformed into the latter. Several groupings of âvolunteersâ appeared at the time, such as the Seva Dal, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Khaksars, and the Muslim National Guards, all of which were provided paramilitary training and were available for use not only for various âsocial serviceâ activities, but also political intervention and, when necessary, for displays of violence, the latter feature most evident during the Second World War and the communal violence leading up to Partition and Indian Independence. Three levels of analysis are undertaken herein:
progress youth volunteer organisation national discipline india deal volunteer body india end great_war examines genealogy body projection surface ideal citizenship space experimentally put idea practice site drive render body contest sphere national self_definition energy youth fear desire many actor seek discipline volunteer corp utilise building discipline modern nation youth volunteer thereby become mutually related category former transform latter several grouping volunteer appear time muslim national provide paramilitary training available use various social_service activity also political intervention necessary violence latter feature evident second_world_war communal violence lead partition indian independence three_level analysis_undertaken herein