[BRITISH COLONIALISM] FURNIVALL, J.S. [John Sydenham]

Colonial Policy and Practice: a Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands India

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1948. First Edition. First impression. Octavo. Brown cloth hardcover; gilt spine-titles; xiv,568pp; map. A tight, square copy, Very Good or better; with scattered pencil marginalia. Two clipped obituaries are tipped onto the front flyleaf. Though his ownership markings do not appear in this volume, the marginal notes are those of noted poet, translator, and anthropologist Nathaniel Tarn, whose professional academic career began with a two-year fellowship in Rangoon, 1958-9.

An important and highly influential articulation of British colonial policy in Burma just prior to independence, presented as a comparison of colonial rule under British and Dutch regimes. Furnivall critiques the effects of colonial capitalism, arguing that it has had a negative impact on traditional Burmese social structure, and advocates a gradualist autonomist policy. Though it was not likely Furnivall's intent, Policy and Practice became something of a blueprint for postcolonialism – albeit a blueprint that was rarely adopted by the more radical opponents to colonial rule – and it has remained regularly in print since its original publication.

Price: $150.00

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