Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope

Dossal, Mariam:
Theatre of conflict, city of hope : Mumbai ; 1660 to present times / Mariam Dossal. - New Delhi ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010. - XL, 252 S. : Ill., Kt.
ISBN 978-0-19-806438-1 / 0-19-806438-1
Rs. 2450,00
US$ 54,44 (Eastern Book Corp.)
DDC: 954.792

Beschreibung
A city of varied shades and home to millions, Mumbai stands tall among the most prominent cities of the world, an indelible landmark of hope, grit, and enterprise.
   The story of the evolution of this city from seven 'islets' to a megalopolis, is both fascinating and wrought with the scars of human agency. This is a tale of land scarcity, of the opening up of new spaces to settle, and the creation of many opportunities of growth. Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope is one of the most comprehensive accounts of this transformation.
   With contested space as its central concern, this encyclopaedic work maps Mumbai’s changing patterns of land use and its transition from an agrarian settlement of little significance to a world city. It traces how coconut gardens, rice fields, and fishing villages yielded to cotton mills, docks, and railways in the nineteenth century, and these more recently to shopping malls, skyscrapers, and urban slums.
   This volume brings to the fore the cosmopolitan character, diversity of cultures and interests, and the confluence of ideas in a grand city. Mariam Dossal deftly uses primary sources and hitherto inaccessible records to investigate the politics of land use, as feudal lands were converted into private property and customary rights were refigured into a capitalist land market. Her inquiry extends over four centuries and uses rare visuals and maps to illuminate the argument.
   Each chapter focuses on a specific period and emphasizes important changes which occurred in that phase of the city’s history. Narratives of both conflict and negotiated settlements between Mumbai’s inhabitants and the colonial and post-colonial state underline the discussions. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Bombay's 'Magna Carta'
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Politics of Land Use.
Poem on the City : Nissim Ezekeil, Island.
SECTION I: AGRARIAN BOMBAY C. 1660 - 1860 LAND INTO PRIVATE PROPERTY
1. A Precarious Presence: The British in Bombay, c. 1660-1720
2. Defence Preoccupations and the Emerging Town c. 1720 - 1780
3. Customary Rights and State Regulations c. 1780-1810
4. A Time for Change: Thomas Dickinson and the Bombay Revenue Survey, c. 1810-1830
5. Law and the Acquisition of Land for Public Purpose, c. 1830-1860
SECTION II: INDUSTRIAL BOMBAY C. 1860 - 2010 CHANGING PATTERNS OF LAND USE
6. A Metropolis Takes Shape c. 1860-1890
7. Urban Planning or Crises Management ? c. 1890- 1930
8. The Housing Conundrum and Bombay's Built Environment, c. 1930-1970
9. Megalopolis Mumbai: Confronting the Challenges of Today
Conclusion: Whither Mumbai?
Maps and Locality Plans
Photographs
Abbreviations
Appendices
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

Autorin
MARIAM DOSSAL, Professor of History, University of Mumbai. She has authored Imperial Design, Indian Realities: The Planning of Mumbai City (1991). Faculty page.

Quellen: Oxford University Press (India); Eastern Book Corp.; Library of Congress; WorldCat