Challenging the Control of Knowledge in Colonial India: Political Ideas in the Work of S. R. Ranganathan

Abstract

Ranganathan's relevance for today is enhanced by a consideration of the political contexts and contradictions in his work. Identification with the Indian independence movement was central to his library theory. Ranganathan's pioneering work of the 1930s challenged the ideological structures of colonial rule, advocating libraries and librarians as agents of a national political awakening, especially amongst the rural poor. In doing so, Ranganathan laid claim to be the heir of the Enlightenment 'universal library' and even suggests the possible role of libraries in creating 'organic' intellectuals amongst the poor. However, the potential to spread mass self-education across India was lost through Ranganathan's simultaneous reliance on the state to deliver social reforms from above. This contradictory approach caused theoretical problems for him following Indian independence. Ranganathan saw the new state as the embodiment of the people, and yet the government did not deliver the scale of library development that Ranganathan needed to fulfil his work. Ranganathan became politically disorientated and marginalized within India. Lacking an organic link to a mass social movement, his ideas became increasingly abstract and obscure.

Keywords:

• RANGANATHAN
• INDIA
• LIBRARIES
• LIBRARIANSHIP
• SELF-EDUCATION
• POLITICS
• COLONIALISM
• NATIONAL LIBERATION