What is the meaning of structural change ?
- If changes start coming in the rules of the institutions of society then it is called structural change
Introduction of structural change
- To understand a people, group or country, it is important to know its history.
- The history of India is very rich and vast
- We get information about India's past by knowing ancient and medieval India
- But to understand modern India, we must also understand the colonial rule period in India
- Modern ideas came to India because of colonialism
contradictory situation
1. India adopted the liberalism and freedom of the West as modernity
2. There was lack of freedom and liberality in colonial rule in India
The contribution of colonialism to India
- Beginning of modern ideas and institutions
- Parliamentary, legal and education system
- walk on the left side of the streets
- Availability of food items like bread omelette, cutlet on roadside carts and vehicles
- The name of the biscuit company in India is related to Britain
- Tie is a mandatory part of uniform in schools
- We are all aware of the multifaceted influence of the English language.
- Indians have also written many excellent works in English
- It is because of the knowledge of English that India has got a special place in the international market
signifying English privileges
- Even today, English is a symbol of privilege; those who do not have knowledge of English language may face difficulties in the field of employment.
- Knowledge of the English language has proven beneficial to many disadvantaged groups
- In the old education system, Dalits had to remain deprived of education. Now with the knowledge of English, doors of opportunities have opened for Dalits.
colonialism
- The rule of one country over another country is called colonialism
- In modern times, British colonialism had the greatest impact on
- India was ruled by different kings according to time and place, which created today's modern India
- But colonial rule was more influential than any other rule because the changes it brought were profound and discriminatory.
- There are many examples in history in which political expansion was achieved by occupying the territories of another country.
- Here the powerful ruled over the weak.
Capitalism
- A system in which the means of production are owned by a select few
- The emphasis is on earning maximum profits which ensures maximum profits
The beginning of capitalism was a complicated process
- Discovery of the rest of the countries by Europe
- Exploitation of wealth and resources of non-European countries
- development of science and technology
- Conversion to industry and agriculture
- Capitalism is known for its dynamism, growth potential, expansion, innovation, better use of technology and labour
- From a capitalist perspective the market is seen as a massive globalised
- The development of Western colonialism is related to the development of Western capitalism
- Colonialism became prevalent in India due to the development of capitalism
- This affected the political, social, cultural and economic structure of India
Difference in governance before and after the advent of capitalism
- Former capitalist rulers profited from their domination
- Pre-capitalist rulers did not interfere in the economic basis of society
- They strengthened their rule by taking over the old economic system
British Colonialism
- It was based on the capitalist system. It directly intervened in economic activities on a large scale, thereby expanding and strengthening capitalism.
Example -
- British colonialism not only changed the rules of land ownership but also determined which crops could and could not be grown
- The system of production of goods and the methods of their distribution also changed
- Felling of trees and cultivation of tea in plantations started
- These laws prohibited villagers, shepherds and shepherds from entering the forests.
- Colonialism also increased the movement of people.
- People continued to move from one part of India to another.
- Like the people of Jharkhand used to go to work in the tea gardens of Assam at that time.
The new middle class
- Those people came who offered their services to the colonial regime
- Various professionals like doctors and lawyers, these classes were mainly from Bengal and Madras
भारत के बाहर आवागमन
- The colonial regime began sending Indian labourers and service workers to distant Asia, Africa and America
- Some people died in the ships and some never returned to India
- The descendants of those Indians are considered to be of Indian origin.
- People of Indian origin are found in many countries of the world whose ancestors reached those countries during colonial rule
The beginning of colonial transformations
- Major changes were brought in various sectors for systematic governance
- These changes were brought about in the field of legislative, cultural and architectural
- Some of these changes were brought about indirectly but some changes were brought about in a planned manner.
- For example, the western education system was introduced in India with the objective of creating an Indian class that would be helpful in maintaining British colonialism.
- But later this education system became the medium of nationalist consciousness and anti-colonial consciousness
Urbanisation and industrialisation
- Industrialization led to the rise of mechanical production
- Production depended on non-human resources such as steam or electricity
- In highly developed civilizations, human labor is required to do productive work from the land
- Due to less technological development, fewer people were able to engage in non-agricultural activities
- On the contrary, in industrial areas most of the people work in factories, offices and shops.
- In the industrial environment, the number of people in agriculture related business is decreasing
- In the West, more than 90 percent of people live in towns and cities because there are more employment opportunities there.
- Therefore, if we look at industrialization and urbanization together, then it is a process that happens simultaneously.
- Example: - Britain was the first society to undergo industrialization and was the first to transform from a rural to an urban country
impact of industrialization on india
- Decline of old urban centres
- Production and manufacturing increased in Britain whereas India declined
- The production and export of silk and cotton went down
- The existence of the ancient cities of India Surat and Masulipatnam started weakening
- Some modern cities began to develop
- The working artisans, artists, and aristocratic classes declined
- From the end of the 19th century, the population began to grow in some of the modern new cities of India where mechanical industries were set up
Variations in Indian Industrialisation
- In Britain, industrialization brought most people to the cities. In contrast, in India, at the beginning of British industrialization, people had to turn to agriculture.
- Western industrialization and the resulting middle class have been compared to India's experience of industrialization
- Industrialisation does not only mean machine-based products; it is also the story of the emergence and development of new social groups and new social relations.
- Cities played an important role in the economy of the empire; coastal cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were considered suitable as these places could easily export essential consumer goods.
- Also, the goods produced here could be imported at cheaper costs.
- The colonial towns were vital connecting links between the economic core in Britain and the margins in colonial India.
- Thus these cities were concrete examples of global capitalism.
as example
1. In colonial India, Bombay was so systematically developed that by 1900 one-third of India's raw cotton was shipped there.
2. Jute was exported from Kolkata
3. While coffee, sugar, indigo and cotton were exported from Chennai to Britain.
Establishment of new towns
- During the colonial period of urbanization, the existence of old cities started weakening and in their place new colonial cities developed. Kolkata was the first such city.
- Founder:- Job Charnock leased three villages on the banks of the Hooghly River
1. Kolikata
2. Govindpur
3. Sutanuti
- Their aim was to establish trading bases in those three villages.
- Fort William was established in 1698 on the banks of the Hooghly River for the purpose of defence and formation of military force.
- The Fort and the surrounding open area called the Maidan where the military forces were camped, formed the nucleus of the city of Calcutta.
- The city expanded from this centre.
Tea gardening
- Industrialisation and urbanisation did not take place in India the way it did in Britain.
- This was not due to the late start of industrialisation but rather because the initial industrialisation and urbanisation here was dominated by colonial rule which looked after its own interests.
- The colonial government recruited labourers through unfair means and forced them to work.
- Labourers were made to work cheaply on plantations for British businessmen using government force.
- Information about the lives of plantation workers is obtained from fiction and other sources.
- Colonial administrators believed that the harshest possible force must be used on workers to benefit the plantation owners.
- They were aware that the rules and regulations in the colonial country might be different
- It is not necessary that the British should follow the same democratic rules in the colonial country which were applicable in Britain.
Industrialisation in Independent India
- The role of colonial rule in industrialization and urbanization in India was important
- Economic exploitation during colonial rule was a central issue for Indian nationalists.
- The picture of India before colonialism that was seen in fiction and literature etc. was full of prosperity and wealth. But poverty was visible in post-colonial India.
- The Swadeshi movement strengthened India's commitment to its national economy.
- Through modern ideas people realized that poverty can be eradicated.
- Indian nationalists believed that rapid and large-scale industrialisation could improve the economic condition, leading to development and social justice.
- Heavy mechanized industries developed. The industries that produced them, the expansion of the public sector and the large co-operative sector were considered important.
- Jawaharlal Nehru had thought that the foundation of a modern and prosperous India was to be laid on large iron and steel producing industries or huge dams and electric power centres.
Urbanisation in Independent India
- You are probably aware of the enormous expansion and changes that cities have undergone in recent years due to increasing globalisation.
- The rate of urbanisation process in India seems to be increasing rapidly in the 21st century.
- The ambitious 'Smart City' scheme of the Government of India will contribute significantly in accelerating this pace.
- In the two decades after independence, the impact of the process of urbanisation in India became clearly visible.
- Urbanization is taking place in many ways. Expressing his views on this, sociologist M.S.A. Rao has written that many villages in India were also coming under the rapidly growing urban influence.
- The impact of urban nature depends on the relationship the villages have with the city.
M.S.A. Rao has explained the situation of three different types of urban impacts
1. First
- There are villages from where a large number of people migrate to far-off cities for employment and live in those cities but their family members live in the village and earn money from the cities and send it to the village.
2. Second
- Villages which are located near industrial cities. Example - When an industrial city emerges, the entire land of some villages around it becomes a part of that city. Migrant workers keep coming to such cities, which increases the demand for houses in the village and the market expands and the problem of balancing the relationship between local residents and migrants also arises.
3. Third
- The rise and growth of metropolises is the third type of urban impact in which the nearby villages are affected. In the expansion of cities, some border villages get completely absorbed in the expansion of the city. The area where people do not live is used for urban development.
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