Taking as its rubric Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859) around which to constellate the themes of colonialism, knowledge production and ideology, multiform social and political geographies, and colonial liberalism and its crisis, this conference will convene at Elphinstone College in Mumbai academics and public intellectuals from all over the world, but especially from across South Asia–India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. There we will explore the enduring intellectual and political impact of Elphinstone considered in the broadest sense, as a presiding figure over the historical nexus that was the 19th century Bombay Presidency. We hope to draw together and bring into dialogue a broad range of scholars and interests to compare and explore shared histories and divergent experiences arising from a) the production and institutionalization of colonial knowledge formations during the imperial era, b) the emergence of new print cultures and publics, c) the destabilization and reinvigoration of colonial knowledge formations in the context of nationalism and national education programs, and d) the formation of a distinctly colonial cosmopolitan center known as “Bombay” that was simultaneously maritime and territorial, material and informational, liberal and authoritarian. The local public in Mumbai and the global public via streaming webcast is welcome to join this trans-national scholarly conversation.

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