Chapter 5 Print Culture and the Modern World

Overview

This chapter traces the history of print, from its origins in East Asia to its expansion in Europe and India, highlighting its profound impact on society, culture, and the formation of the modern world. It explains how the invention and spread of printing technology transformed the accessibility and dissemination of knowledge, fueled literacy, enabled religious reforms and political dissent, and contributed to the rise of nationalism. The chapter also discusses the emergence of new reading publics, the role of print in shaping popular imagination through advertisements and novels, and the subsequent attempts by authorities to control print through censorship.

The Pre-Modern World

Before the age of print, knowledge and culture were primarily transmitted orally. Manuscripts, carefully handwritten on palm leaves or paper, were expensive, fragile, and limited in circulation. Despite this, cultural exchange occurred through travellers and traders, spreading languages, religions (Buddhism), and even diseases. The term 'silk routes' exemplifies these ancient trade networks connecting distant regions.

Silk Routes Link The World

These routes facilitated the exchange of goods like silk, pottery, spices, and metals, along with ideas, linking Asia, Europe, and North Africa for centuries.

Food Travels: Spaghetti and Potato

Food items like noodles (potentially originating from China) and potatoes, maize, tomatoes, etc. (from the Americas) spread globally through travellers and traders, significantly impacting diets and even survival.

Conquest, Disease And Trade

European exploration from the 16th century onwards led to increased global interconnectedness. While superior firepower played a role in conquest, diseases like smallpox, to which Europeans had immunity but Native Americans did not, were devastatingly effective weapons, decimating populations and paving the way for colonization.

The Nineteenth Century (1815-1914)

A World Economy Takes Shape

The 19th century saw the rise of a global economy driven by increased trade, capital flows, and labor migration. Britain's shift from food self-sufficiency to food imports, driven by industrialization and population growth, spurred agricultural expansion in colonies and new lands like America and Australia. Railways and steamships facilitated the cheap and rapid transport of goods, connecting regions and creating complex production networks.

Role of Technology

Technological advancements like the steam engine, railways, and steamships were crucial. They reduced costs and increased speed, enabling faster movement of goods, capital, and people, thus facilitating global integration.

Late Nineteenth-Century Colonialism

Colonialism integrated colonized societies into the world economy, often leading to loss of freedom and livelihoods. Arbitrary borders were drawn, resources exploited, and traditional practices disrupted, primarily serving European interests.

Rinderpest, Or The Cattle Plague

The spread of rinderpest in Africa in the 1890s decimated cattle populations, destroying livelihoods and weakening resistance against European colonial powers, who then monopolized scarce resources.

Indentured Labour Migration From India

Hundreds of thousands of Indians migrated as indentured laborers to work on plantations and infrastructure projects globally, facing harsh conditions and exploitation. Despite this, they created new cultural fusions and identities in their new homes.

Indian Entrepreneurs Abroad

Indian traders and financiers (like Shikaripuri shroffs) played roles in financing export agriculture and trade networks in Asia and Africa, even as colonial powers tightened control.

Indian Trade, Colonialism And The Global System

Colonial policies transformed India into an exporter of raw materials and importer of manufactured goods, benefiting Britain's industrial economy. India's trade surplus helped Britain balance its global deficits.

The Inter-War Economy

The period between the two World Wars was marked by severe economic and political instability.

Wartime Transformations

World War I saw unprecedented industrial mobilization for war, leading to massive destruction, economic shifts, and the US emerging as a dominant creditor nation.

Post-War Recovery

Post-war recovery was challenging, especially for Britain, which faced industrial competition and heavy war debts. The US economy recovered more quickly, financing global reconstruction.

Rise Of Mass Production And Consumption

The 1920s in the US saw the rise of mass production (e.g., Henry Ford's assembly line), lowering costs and increasing consumption of goods like cars, fueled by hire-purchase schemes and higher wages, creating a prosperity bubble.

The Great Depression

Starting in 1929, the Great Depression caused catastrophic declines in global production, employment, and trade, severely impacting agricultural economies. It resulted from factors like agricultural overproduction, withdrawal of US loans, protectionist policies, and fragile post-war economies.

India And The Great Depression

The depression drastically reduced India's exports and imports, causing agricultural prices to crash. Despite falling prices, the colonial government did not reduce revenue demands, increasing rural indebtedness and unrest, which contributed to the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Rebuilding A World Economy: The Post-War Era

Post-War Settlement And The Bretton Woods Institutions

After World War II, the Bretton Woods Conference (1944) established international economic institutions—the IMF and World Bank—to manage global finance, prevent economic instability, and finance post-war reconstruction, largely under US influence. It set up a system of fixed exchange rates with the dollar pegged to gold.

The Early Post-War Years

The Bretton Woods system fostered significant economic growth and trade in industrial nations. However, developing countries, often former colonies, struggled to benefit due to inherited economic weaknesses and the institutions' focus on the needs of industrial powers.

Decolonisation And Independence

Post-WWII saw the emergence of many independent nations in Asia and Africa. These countries sought control over their resources and fairer trade terms, leading to the formation of the Group of 77 (G-77) demanding a New International Economic Order (NIEO).

End Of Bretton Woods And The Beginning Of ‘Globalisation’

The Bretton Woods system collapsed in the 1970s due to the US dollar's instability. Developing countries faced debt crises as they increasingly borrowed from private banks. Simultaneously, MNCs began relocating production to low-wage Asian countries, facilitated by technological advancements in ICT and liberalised trade policies, marking the acceleration of globalisation.