Geographies of anticolonialism : political networks across and beyond South India, c. 1900-1930 / Andrew Davies.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Post? Anti? De? Why anticolonialism still matters -- Theorising anticolonial space -- South India and anti-colonialism : the minor politics of anti-colonialism in a historiographical 'backwater' -- Appropriating modernity and development to contest colonialism : the Swadeshi movement in South India and the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company -- Spacing and placing anticolonialism : Pondicherry as a hub of radical nationalist anticolonial thought -- Envisioning a spiritual and cosmopolitan decolonial future? Sri Aurobindo's 'non-political' anticolonialism -- The 'international' and anarchist life of MPT Acharya -- Conclusions: The necessity of a geographical anticolonial thought, or why anticolonialism still matters.

"Geographies of Anticolonialism brings together a varied selection of historical sources and literature to explore Indian anticolonialism in new ways. Anticolonialism, an often overlooked concept in geography, can be defined as internal and external resistance to the practices and by-products of colonial rule, such as racism, militarism, resource exploitation, and land dispossession. Linked to, but different from post- and decolonial approaches, anticolonial geographies are explicitly political in nature - offering a different perspective to geographers seeking to understand political resistance to colonialism. The author addresses contemporary studies that argue nationalism was joined by other political processes, such as revolutionary and anarchist ideologies, to shape the Indian independence movement. A focus on a specific anticolonial group, the "Pondicherry Gang," investigates their significant impact which exceeded their small numbers and short period of activity. Operating in the south of India, an underrepresented area of study when compared to Bengal and the Punjab, members of the Pondicherry resistance became spiritual gurus, reinvigorated the Tamil language, and conducted the only political assassination in the region. In examining such activities, Geographies of Anticolonialism helps readers understand the diverse nature of anticolonialism, which in turn prompts thinking about the various geographies produced through anticolonial activity"-- Provided by publisher.