Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: New Books (E)
Guest: Dr. Maria Bach (C), historian of economics
Episode Title: Maria Bach, "Relocating Development Economics: The First Generation of Modern Indian Economists" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
Publication Date: December 3, 2025

This episode features Dr. Maria Bach discussing her groundbreaking book, Relocating Development Economics: The First Generation of Modern Indian Economists. The conversation explores how Indian economists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries actively engaged with global economic thought, adapted and critiqued imperial paradigms, and produced original frameworks for understanding economic development well before the discipline of development economics was formally established. The episode emphasizes the global and dialogical nature of economic knowledge production, the marginalization of Indian economic thinkers in the international discipline, and the afterlife of their ideas in postcolonial India.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Bach’s Intellectual Journey and Motivation for the Book

• Background & Academic Path

  • Initially trained in traditional economics and mathematics in Paris and later moved to development economics at SOAS, London.
  • A transformative encounter with economist Ben Fine introduced her to the history of economics, broadening her perspective (03:50).
  • Early research focused on how classical Western economists viewed India, but a pivotal shift came when reading primary works by Indian economists like Mahadev Ranade.

• Discovery of Indian Economic Thought's Marginalization

  • “In the history of economics ... these [Indian] economists are really marginalized ... they’re not really there at all.” (07:14)
  • Noted that, despite recognition in political thought, Indian economists are absent from mainstream international economic history.

• Why "Development Economics"?

  • The work spotlights Indian economists’ engagement with themes that would later be formalized as development economics.
  • She argues that foundational ideas labeled as "development economics" in the Latin American 1950s context had earlier roots in India—and that Latin American economists were often citing Indian predecessors (07:50).

2. Global and Interconnected Worlds (08:45–11:22)

• Indian Economists and the German/American Tradition
  • “German and American traditions at this time were gaining momentum ... countries that are trying to catch up to Great Britain in terms of industrialization ... which is what India ultimately is too.” (09:57)
  • Indian economists, educated in imperial and global settings, drew upon and adapted diverse traditions—particularly those modeling "late industrialization."
  • Access to texts despite colonial constraints; exposure via travel and elite networks.

3. Transformations in Late 19th Century India (11:22–17:31)

• Material & Intellectual Context
  • Key backdrop: British narratives of "progress," annual reports, and official propaganda.
  • Dadabhai Naoroji’s scandal-making 1871 estimate of national income demonstrated the deep poverty of India, challenging imperial claims (12:58).
  • Severe famines and alleged "manmade" factors, as argued by Ramachandra Dutt, especially the lack of access to food, not food itself (14:26).
  • “It’s not the lack of food, it’s the lack of access to food... this food becomes so, so expensive during years of drought that people can’t actually buy food.” (14:35)
  • Ongoing debates about deindustrialization; acknowledgment of complexity and regional variation (16:19).

4. Industrialization, Stadial Theory & Historical Regress (17:31–26:23)

• Stadial Theory and Its Adaptation

  • Indian economists adapt, rather than simply adopt, European stadial (stage) theories (from Adam Smith).
    • E.g. Mahadev Ranade’s four-stage model: applying biological metaphors from infancy (agrarian dominance) to adulthood (industrialization).
  • “According to Ranade, you can go up and down this chain of stages ... India had been at the stage of adolescence before and had now regressed down to the stage of a child stage because of colonization.” (21:16)
  • Industrialization was a near-unanimous ideal among these economists—seen as both recovery of a "golden age" and necessary for modernization and self-government.
    • Recognition that this narrative also served political, nationalist purposes (24:59).

• Relationality of Agriculture & Industry

  • The thinkers stressed the need for balanced growth, inspired by German School concerns about agricultural overdominance.

5. The Afterlife of Indian Economic Thought (26:23–33:16)

• Enduring Influence

  • While Gandhi later popularized alternative visions, Bach notes that postcolonial Indian economic policy echoes many pre-independence debates and proposals (27:10).
  • “It’s almost like reading some of the Indian economists from the late 19th century—they have very, very similar ideas about what India needs...” (27:31)
  • Most early Indian economists were not socialists; they drew on the colonial/imperial canon, but with local adaptations.
  • Ideas persisted, especially after economic liberalization.

• Marginalization on the Global Stage

  • Dr. Bach positions herself as a global economic historian, noting the widespread neglect of Indian economists in international narratives.
  • “These Indian economists are marginalized on the international level ... we have this fight for ideas and these Indian economists are not even ... anywhere near the fight to get any kind of space to be heard.” (29:41)
  • Her book champions the inclusion of these thinkers in the broader discussion of global economic ideas.

• Dialogic Knowledge Production

  • Bach draws on theorist Mikhail Bakhtin to argue that economic knowledge is produced through dialogue; Indian economists understood and engaged Western paradigms, then strategically adapted or challenged them (32:12).
  • “They realize they have to understand [Western] thought first and prove to the audience that they understand them first, and then they can maybe add a little bit of their ideas at the end.” (31:30)

• Contemporary Significance

  • Bach calls for greater incorporation of these avant-garde Indian thinkers into economics curricula, especially in India but ideally globally.
  • Points to the ongoing challenge of universal, Western-centric economics textbooks and the need for contextual, pluralistic approaches (32:45).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the shock of discovering indigenous economic thought:

  “I just read this [Ranade’s work] and I think: there’s stuff here—why haven’t I learned about this before?” (06:37, Dr. Bach)

• On the continuous marginalization in economic history:

  “These economists are really marginalized in the history of economics... They’re not really there at all.” (07:14, Dr. Bach)

• On "relocating" the origins of development economics:

  "Lots of the ideas that come up in the 1950s in Latin America... are actually coming originally from India in the first place." (07:55, Dr. Bach)

• On engagement with German and American economic traditions:

  “Here we have economic thought that can help them better understand their own economic context and provide better solutions for the regress that they see all around them in India.” (10:41, Dr. Bach)

• On the British "civilizing mission" and counter-narrative:

  “They start publishing these reports, 'Moral and material progress in India,' every year... And I mean, I think we can all agree that it's propaganda, right, this idea that India is getting better and it's thanks to us, the British…” (12:10, Dr. Bach)

• On the persistent relevance of these thinkers:

  "I mean, the books that I now read today about economics in postcolonial India, I mean, it's almost like reading some of the Indian economists from the late 19th century..." (27:31, Dr. Bach)

• On the global production of knowledge:

  "What I'm trying to do ... is say these economists are marginalized on the international level ... on the international level, we have this fight for ideas and these Indian economists are not even ... anywhere near the fight to get any kind of space to be heard." (29:41, Dr. Bach)

• On the politics and strategy of intellectual engagement:

  “At the beginning [of their speeches] they’re all like, ‘Oh, thank you for your Western education.’ And then by the end of it, [they’re] like, ‘Okay, let’s throw out the Western education and let’s think about our context.’” (31:38, Dr. Bach)

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:20 | Host introduces Dr. Maria Bach and the episode's theme | | 02:46 | Dr. Bach explains her journey into Indian economic thought and her methodological approach | | 08:45 | The global influences on Indian economists; German and American traditions | | 11:22 | Economic context of late 19th century India; deindustrialization, famines | | 17:31 | Stadial theory, industrial ideals, and Indigenous adaptation of economic frameworks | | 26:23 | Afterlife of these ideas in postcolonial India and economics as a field | | 31:30 | Knowledge production, dialogic frameworks, and curriculum change | | 33:16 | Conclusion of the interview |

Summary Table of Key Figures

| Economist/Thinker | Contribution | Context/Region | |-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|------------------------| | Dadabhai Naoroji | First Indian national income estimate; critique of British "progress" narrative | Primarily London, North India | | Mahadev Ranade | Stadial theory adaptation; emphasis on industrialization and regression | Maharashtra, West India | | Ramachandra Dutt | Analysis of famines; access versus supply of food | Bengal, Eastern India |

Tone & Language

Throughout, Dr. Bach speaks with clarity and frankness, blending scholarly precision with personal reflection. She openly addresses both the gaps in the field and the political stakes of economic history, frequently attributing agency and strategic adaptation to her subjects:

“They’re using rhetoric and political strategies in persuasion. ... These are political activists; they have goals with what they’re saying and their research, like anybody.” (25:21, Dr. Bach)

Final Reflection

Dr. Maria Bach’s work forcefully reclaims the intellectual agency of Indian economists, revealing their creative adaptation of global ideas and persistent marginalization in economic history. The episode offers valuable insights for researchers, students, and practitioners interested in alternative histories of economics, the global circulation of ideas, and the ongoing struggle for intellectual recognition beyond the Western canon.