{"product_id":"monsoon-economies-isbn-9780262543583","title":"Monsoon Economies","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow interventions to mitigate climate-caused poverty and inequality in India came at a cost to environmental sustainability.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the monsoon regions of South Asia, the rainy season sustains life but brings with it the threat of floods, followed by a long stretch of the year when little gainful work is possible and the threat of famine looms. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, a series of interventions by Indian governments and other actors mitigated these conditions, enabling agricultural growth, encouraging urbanization, and bringing about a permanent decrease in death rates. But these actions—largely efforts to ensure wider access to water—came at a cost to environmental sustainability. In \u003ci\u003eMonsoon Economies\u003c\/i\u003e, Tirthankar Roy explores the interaction between the environment and the economy in the emergence of modern India. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eRoy argues that the tropical monsoon climate makes economic and population growth contingent on water security. But in a water-scarce world, the means used to increase water security not only created environmental stresses but also made political conflict more likely. Roy investigates famine relief, the framing of a seasonal “water famine,” and the concept of public trust in water; the political movements that challenged socially sanctioned forms of deprivation; water as a public good; water quality in cities; the shift from impounding river water in dams and reservoirs to exploring groundwater; the seasonality of a monsoon economy; and economic lessons from India for a world facing environmental degradation. Series Foreword vii\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments xv\u003cbr\u003eList of Illustrations xvii\u003cbr\u003e1 Why Climate Matters 1\u003cbr\u003e2 Water and Famine 25\u003cbr\u003e3 Water and Equality 45\u003cbr\u003e4 Becoming a Public Good 65\u003cbr\u003e5 Water in the Cities 87\u003cbr\u003e6 Water Stress 113\u003cbr\u003e7 Seasonality 137\u003cbr\u003e8 Monsoon Economies 167\u003cbr\u003eNotes 177\u003cbr\u003eSelected Readings 203\u003cbr\u003eIndex 207“Examining the high costs of India’s success in managing water resources in a tropical monsoon climate, Tirthankar Roy guides historians and economists alike along a fresh path for interpreting the past and future environment.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eAlan Mikhail, Chace Family Professor of History, Yale University; author of \u003ci\u003eUnder Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Environmental History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Monsoon seasonality provides the framework for Roy to bring together the histories of modern India’s economy with its experience with water scarcity. The book provides a model for integrating economic and environmental history.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eDavid Gilmartin, Professor of History, North Carolina State University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eMonsoon Economie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cu\u003es\u003c\/u\u003e, Tirthankar Roy has turned his formidable talents to the environment, showing geography’s crucial role in modern India's economic development.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003ePrasannan Parthasarathi, Professor of History, Boston College\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Roy shows how water shaped India’s development path by constraining the utility of land, labor, and capital, hence the nature of capitalism.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eKaoru Sugihara, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Roy examines the economic life of South Asia through the prism of water, and shows his readers how this simple move requires a rethinking of much that we think we know about development, environment, and fairness. This is an eye-opening book.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cb\u003eJan de Vries, Professor Emeritus of History and Economics, University of California, Berkeley\u003c\/b\u003eTirthankar Roy is Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Crafts and Capitalism: Handloom Weaving Industry in Colonial India\u003c\/i\u003e and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Economic History of Colonialism\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLaw and the Economy in a Young Democracy\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305506197733,"sku":"NP9780262543583","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262543583.jpg?v=1767732917","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/monsoon-economies-isbn-9780262543583","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}