Silas Webb | Syracuse University (original) (raw)
Uploads
Dissertation by Silas Webb
Situated between early instances of economic migration from Punjab in the 1920s and the disintegr... more Situated between early instances of economic migration from Punjab in the 1920s and the disintegration of the Labour Movement in the 1980s, this dissertation examines the political and social formation of Punjabis in twentieth century Britain. This project offers a discursive corrective to analyses of the British working-class that exclude or ignore the presence of thousands of nonwhite workers that came to the United Kingdom during that period and offers an assessment of the multiracial constitution of the British working-class and labour movement. As a contribution to South Asian history, this dissertation pursues a deterritorialized study of South Asian and Punjabi history-as a history of people rather than a place. By bridging the historiographical divide of partition and independence, this project explores the significant interplay between the histories and struggles of host and home societies. These struggles were often mutually reinforcing for migrants, who, because they exist at the interstices of both societies, were mobilized by events near and far. Rather than insisting on the primary and definitive importance that one or the other place, native or host society, has on the development of ideologies, alliances, or cultures, this dissertation posits that they are historically produced, for mobile people, out of movement, interaction, and experience. Thus, this project centers on transnational connections and intergroup alliances, what I call migrant internationalism, as an essential medium through which to understand the history of South Asian migrant workers in Britain.
Peer-Reviewed Articles by Silas Webb
Socialist Studies/Etudes Socialistes, 2018
Punjabis in interwar Britain, who had migrated for economic opportunity but had been politicized ... more Punjabis in interwar Britain, who had migrated for economic opportunity but had been politicized during successive upheavals at home, admired Ghadar’s radical solidarities with nationalist and anticolonial movements. This article focuses on peripatetic Punjabi radicals, often working as pedlars and sailors, to enhance the current understanding of the vibrant relationship between the Ghadar Party and Punjabis in Britain. This article contextualizes Udham Singh’s martyrdom by examining the uses to which his name and image were put in radical publications. Furthermore, the Indian Workers’ Association, formed in the midst of the Second World War, was integral to articulating a Ghadarite anticolonialism in Britain, which was animated by the trial and memorialization of Udham Singh. Thus, this article argues that labor migration and the global transmission of Ghadar Party publications was integral to the Ghadar movement’s influence on the struggle against imperialism in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s.
At its peak, the East Indian Railway strike of 1922 affected more than 1500 kilometres of rail an... more At its peak, the East Indian Railway strike of 1922 affected more than 1500 kilometres of rail and involved tens of thousands of workers. The strike was an exemplary moment in Indian worker politics. It advanced an idiom of citizenship, distinct from Gandhian non-cooperation and Congress nationalism, in order to make claims for redress on their employer and the state, and simultaneously, to exhibit profound social power against the colonial state and wouldbe nationalist representatives. Though this strike began in response to allegations of a brutal assault, the demands of the workers, I will argue, expose the limits of both political nationalism and colonialism. To establish this point, the EIR strike is placed in a trans-colonial context with Kenya, which allows for the appreciation of the interwar period as a transformative moment in worker politics. Not only did the Indian strike actively resist Gandhi's proscriptions on striking and maintaining financial ties to the railway company, the workers also moved against the authority of the colonial state by appropriating discourses of governance that were conventionally used against them. Thus, while the strike relied on the breakdown of colonial authority resulting from nationalist agitation, the strike exceeded the purview of elite politics.
Tufts Historical Review, 2010
Book Reviews by Silas Webb
Contemporary South Asia, 2020
Thesis Chapter Abstracts by Silas Webb
This document is an extended abstract for my 2019 dissertation titled Lalkar: Migrant Internation... more This document is an extended abstract for my 2019 dissertation titled Lalkar: Migrant Internationalism among Punjabis in Twentieth Century Britain
This chapter looks at the colonial history of Punjab, especially in the early-twentieth century. ... more This chapter looks at the colonial history of Punjab, especially in the early-twentieth century. Specifically, this chapter attempts to chart the history of radical and anticolonial politics in Punjab and provide historical context for the emergence of the Punjabi diaspora.
Chapter 2 of my dissertation examines the history of South Asian seamen in Britain. It considers ... more Chapter 2 of my dissertation examines the history of South Asian seamen in Britain. It considers the history of lascar recruitment in Punjab and the Asiatic Articles for employment on ships. It focuses on the importance of inter-racial intimacies for establishing a community of Punjabi seamen in Britain.
This chapter presents new insights into the formation and function of a peddling community of Sou... more This chapter presents new insights into the formation and function of a peddling community of South Asians, primarily Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims, in Britain in the interwar period.
This chapter examines the history of Udham Singh's assassination of Michael O'Dwyer, the former L... more This chapter examines the history of Udham Singh's assassination of Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, in 1940. It also looks at the influence of the trial and appeal on South Asian politics in Britain in the pursuit of establishing a Ghadar Movement ethos there.
This is an abstract of Chapter 5 of my dissertation. This chapter focuses especially on the salie... more This is an abstract of Chapter 5 of my dissertation. This chapter focuses especially on the salience of the Fourth International (Trotskyism) among South Asian migrants in Britain during World War II.
This is the abstract for Chapter 6 of my dissertation which examines the influence of the 1955 As... more This is the abstract for Chapter 6 of my dissertation which examines the influence of the 1955 Asian-African Conference at Bandung on the politics and activism of South Asian migrants in Britain.
This is the abstract for Chapter 7 of my dissertation on militant self-defense among South Asians... more This is the abstract for Chapter 7 of my dissertation on militant self-defense among South Asians in Britain in response to the rise of racist and anti-immigrant organizations such as the National Front.
Situated between early instances of economic migration from Punjab in the 1920s and the disintegr... more Situated between early instances of economic migration from Punjab in the 1920s and the disintegration of the Labour Movement in the 1980s, this dissertation examines the political and social formation of Punjabis in twentieth century Britain. This project offers a discursive corrective to analyses of the British working-class that exclude or ignore the presence of thousands of nonwhite workers that came to the United Kingdom during that period and offers an assessment of the multiracial constitution of the British working-class and labour movement. As a contribution to South Asian history, this dissertation pursues a deterritorialized study of South Asian and Punjabi history-as a history of people rather than a place. By bridging the historiographical divide of partition and independence, this project explores the significant interplay between the histories and struggles of host and home societies. These struggles were often mutually reinforcing for migrants, who, because they exist at the interstices of both societies, were mobilized by events near and far. Rather than insisting on the primary and definitive importance that one or the other place, native or host society, has on the development of ideologies, alliances, or cultures, this dissertation posits that they are historically produced, for mobile people, out of movement, interaction, and experience. Thus, this project centers on transnational connections and intergroup alliances, what I call migrant internationalism, as an essential medium through which to understand the history of South Asian migrant workers in Britain.
Socialist Studies/Etudes Socialistes, 2018
Punjabis in interwar Britain, who had migrated for economic opportunity but had been politicized ... more Punjabis in interwar Britain, who had migrated for economic opportunity but had been politicized during successive upheavals at home, admired Ghadar’s radical solidarities with nationalist and anticolonial movements. This article focuses on peripatetic Punjabi radicals, often working as pedlars and sailors, to enhance the current understanding of the vibrant relationship between the Ghadar Party and Punjabis in Britain. This article contextualizes Udham Singh’s martyrdom by examining the uses to which his name and image were put in radical publications. Furthermore, the Indian Workers’ Association, formed in the midst of the Second World War, was integral to articulating a Ghadarite anticolonialism in Britain, which was animated by the trial and memorialization of Udham Singh. Thus, this article argues that labor migration and the global transmission of Ghadar Party publications was integral to the Ghadar movement’s influence on the struggle against imperialism in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s.
At its peak, the East Indian Railway strike of 1922 affected more than 1500 kilometres of rail an... more At its peak, the East Indian Railway strike of 1922 affected more than 1500 kilometres of rail and involved tens of thousands of workers. The strike was an exemplary moment in Indian worker politics. It advanced an idiom of citizenship, distinct from Gandhian non-cooperation and Congress nationalism, in order to make claims for redress on their employer and the state, and simultaneously, to exhibit profound social power against the colonial state and wouldbe nationalist representatives. Though this strike began in response to allegations of a brutal assault, the demands of the workers, I will argue, expose the limits of both political nationalism and colonialism. To establish this point, the EIR strike is placed in a trans-colonial context with Kenya, which allows for the appreciation of the interwar period as a transformative moment in worker politics. Not only did the Indian strike actively resist Gandhi's proscriptions on striking and maintaining financial ties to the railway company, the workers also moved against the authority of the colonial state by appropriating discourses of governance that were conventionally used against them. Thus, while the strike relied on the breakdown of colonial authority resulting from nationalist agitation, the strike exceeded the purview of elite politics.
Tufts Historical Review, 2010
Contemporary South Asia, 2020
This document is an extended abstract for my 2019 dissertation titled Lalkar: Migrant Internation... more This document is an extended abstract for my 2019 dissertation titled Lalkar: Migrant Internationalism among Punjabis in Twentieth Century Britain
This chapter looks at the colonial history of Punjab, especially in the early-twentieth century. ... more This chapter looks at the colonial history of Punjab, especially in the early-twentieth century. Specifically, this chapter attempts to chart the history of radical and anticolonial politics in Punjab and provide historical context for the emergence of the Punjabi diaspora.
Chapter 2 of my dissertation examines the history of South Asian seamen in Britain. It considers ... more Chapter 2 of my dissertation examines the history of South Asian seamen in Britain. It considers the history of lascar recruitment in Punjab and the Asiatic Articles for employment on ships. It focuses on the importance of inter-racial intimacies for establishing a community of Punjabi seamen in Britain.
This chapter presents new insights into the formation and function of a peddling community of Sou... more This chapter presents new insights into the formation and function of a peddling community of South Asians, primarily Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims, in Britain in the interwar period.
This chapter examines the history of Udham Singh's assassination of Michael O'Dwyer, the former L... more This chapter examines the history of Udham Singh's assassination of Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, in 1940. It also looks at the influence of the trial and appeal on South Asian politics in Britain in the pursuit of establishing a Ghadar Movement ethos there.
This is an abstract of Chapter 5 of my dissertation. This chapter focuses especially on the salie... more This is an abstract of Chapter 5 of my dissertation. This chapter focuses especially on the salience of the Fourth International (Trotskyism) among South Asian migrants in Britain during World War II.
This is the abstract for Chapter 6 of my dissertation which examines the influence of the 1955 As... more This is the abstract for Chapter 6 of my dissertation which examines the influence of the 1955 Asian-African Conference at Bandung on the politics and activism of South Asian migrants in Britain.
This is the abstract for Chapter 7 of my dissertation on militant self-defense among South Asians... more This is the abstract for Chapter 7 of my dissertation on militant self-defense among South Asians in Britain in response to the rise of racist and anti-immigrant organizations such as the National Front.