The Colonial State: Theory and Practice

This book addresses through historical narrativization of some specific moments of colonial state building the historical specificities of the ‘colonial’ state as distinct from other state forms. It weaves together the discourse of state theory and the narrative of state practices. Its approach is based on the argument that theory was not something out there to guide practice. Rather, empirical evidence suggests a more complex picture of interaction between the two where, within parameters structured by theory, the practice in turn produces and structures theory at each conjuncture. Given this, and given the absence of theoretical enquiries of the kind which have so enriched the analysis of the post-colonial state, the historiography of the colonial period needs to revisited and complemented – and this is what this book attempts.