Serving the Nation: Cultures of Service, Association, and Citizenship

Serving the Nation provides an innovative analysis of social service and philanthropic efforts in late colonial India in the context of broader social, cultural, and political developments. Carey A. Watt explores the concept of Indian citizenship, especially the programmes of intellectual, moral, and physical instruction aimed at training youth as manly and patriotic social servants. He also demonstrates how organizations such as the servants of India society contributed to the emergence of a vibrant network of associations and the invigoration of India’s public life. Criticizing scholarly tendencies that segregate social and political activities, Watt offers a reappraisal of nationalism and nationalist politics. He argues that social service and philanthropic undertakings constituted a type of nation building that encouraged greater participation in public life as well as the building of broader social solidarities. The book stresses the importance of agency and the ability of Indians to engage in the global modernity of the twentieth century, thus situating Indian actions in wider regional and global contexts. It shows how the vanguard of social service endeavours was able to accommodate select global influences and confidently blend them with their own ‘living traditions’ of charity, service, health and physical culture. Serving the nation will interest historians and social scientists working on issues related to nationalism, social service, and politics in colonial India as well as scholars and general readers exploring areas such as charity, philanthropy, citizenship, voluntarism, NGOs, and civil society.