J.S. Furnivall and fabianism: Reinterpreting the 'plural society' in Burma

Modern Asian Studies

Volumn 39, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 321-348

  Pham, Julie ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

SOCIAL STRUCTURE;

EID: 4344718223     PISSN: 0026749X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0026749X04001593     Document Type: Review

References (140)

1. J. S. Furnivall, 'Laying the Foundations', World of Books, XXI, 121 (1935), pp. 2-3. In accordance with current academic practice, I will use 'Burmese' to denote the nationality of those living in Burma and 'Burman' to denote the majority ethnic group of Burma. In most of the literature written during Furnivall's time, the usage was the reverse.
2. Robert Taylor, 'Disaster or Release? J. S. Furnivall and the Bankruptcy of Burma', MAS, XXIX, 1 (1995), pp. 45-63.
3. Taylor, 'Disaster or Release?', pp. 56-7. For further discussion on the state of Myanmar,
4. see Michael Aung-Thwin, Pagan: The Origins of Modern Burma (Honolulu, 1985);
5. Peter Carey, ed. Burma: the Challenge of Change in a Divided Society (Basingstoke, 1997);
6. and Robert Taylor, The State in Burma (London, 1987).
7. Taylor, 'Disaster or Release?', p. 48
8. Ibid., p. 55.
9. See Julie Pham, 'Ghost Hunting in Colonial Burma: Nostalgia, Paternalism, and the Thought of J. S. Furnivall', South East Asia Research, XII, 2 (2004), pp. 237-268.
10. J. S. Furnivall, 'Preface for European Readers' in An Introduction to the Political Economy of Burma (Rangoon, 1931), ix.
11. Ibid., xiii.
12. J. S. Furnivall, Colonial Policy and Practice: a comparative study of Burma and Netherlands India (Cambridge, 1948), p. 313.
13. W. C. Neale, W. C. Schaniel, 'John Sydenham Furnivall: an unknown institutionalist', Journal of Economic Issues, XXXVI, 1 (2002), pp. 201-7;
14. J. R. Potvin, 'The Economic and Social Theory of John S. Furnivall' (unpublished manuscript, 1986), JAP;
15. John Rex, 'The Plural Society in Sociological Theory', British Journal of Sociology, X, 2 (1959), pp. 114-24;
16. Danilyn Rutherford, 'Laughing at Leviathan: John Furnivall, Dutch New Guinea, and the Ridiculousness of Colonial Rule' in James T. Siegel and Audrey R. Kahin, eds, Southeast Asia over Three Generations (Ithaca, 2003), pp. 27-46;
17. John B. Viar, 'Economic Development in Plural Societies: the Institutional Economics of J. S. Furnivall' (unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Tennessee, 1993);
18. Taylor, 'Disaster or Release?'. Rutherford does not discuss the plural society as attests to Furnivall's anticolonial views, arguing: 'John Furnivall understood very well the inherently ridiculous nature of the colonial state on the frontiers of empire' (p. 28).
19. Robert Taylor, 'An Undeveloped State: The Study of Modern Burma's Politics', Working Paper No. 28 (Melbourne, Australia: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, April 1983), p. 5.
20. Frank Trager, ed. and comp. Furnivall of Burma: An Annotated Bibliography of the Works of John S. Furnivall, Bibliography Series No. 8 (Yale University, 1963).
21. Sidney Webb, 'Historic' in George Bernard Shaw et al. eds., Fabian Essays in Socialism (London, 1889), p. 57.
22. For further discussion on this foundational text, see Clive E. Hill, Understanding the Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889) '(Lewiston; Queenston; Lempter, 1996).
23. George Bernard Shaw, 'The Mission of the Fabians', p. 11, Tract 70, Report on Fabian Policy and Resolutions (1986), E21/8, f. 8, London, LSE, Fabian Society Papers (FSP).
24. Cited in Rodney Barker, Political Ideas in Modern Britain (London, 1978), p. 106.
25. Rita Hinden, 'How a Political Society Functions: The Story of the Fabian Colonial Bureau' in Rita Hinden, ed., Fabian Colonial Essay (London, 1945), p. 261.
26. Furnivall listed under 'Members of 50 years and more' as having joined in 1908. G65/1, f. 9, FSP.
27. Sidney and Beatrice Webb, The Webbs in Asia: The 1911-1912 Travel Diary, George Feaver, ed. (London, 1992), p. 189.
28. Bill Elkins, letter to author, 21 Feb. 2002.
29. J. S. Furnivall, 'An Introduction to Politics for Burman; a special supplement to the World of Books' (Rangoon, 1925), p. 11, JAP.
30. Maung Maung, Burma and General Ne Win (London, 1969), p. 39.
31. Aung San Sun Kyi, Burma and India: Some Aspects of Intellectual Life Under Colonialism (Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla, 1990), p. 69.
32. Government of Burma, Burma Round Table Conference, 27th November, 1931-12th January, 1932, Proceedings (Rangoon, 1932).
33. J. S. Furnivall, 'Land as a free gift of Nature', The Economic Journal, XIX (Dec. 1909), pp. 552-8.
34. J. S. Furnivall, 'Sunlight and Soap,' JBRS 8, III (December 1918), 208.
35. J. S. Furnivall, 'Planning for Welfare in Burma' (1948), Box 12, File 55, p. 19, London, SOAS, John S. Furnivall Papers (JSFP).
36. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Political Economy of the Tropical Far East', Asiatic Review, XXIX, parts 3-4 (1942), p. 204.
37. Sidney Webb, The Decline of the Birth Rate (reprinted, London, 1910, c. 1907), p. 19.
38. For further discussion, see Paul B. Rich, Race and Empire in British Politics (Cambridge, 1986);
39. G. R. Searle, Eugenics and Politics in Britain, 1900-1914 (Leyden, 1976);
40. Nancy Stepan, The Idea of Race in Science: Great Britain, 1800-1960 (London and Basingstoke, 1982).
41. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Organisation of Consumption', Economic Journal, II (March 1910), p. 25.
42. Gordon Luce, 'J. S. Furnivall', The Nation (Rangoon), 13 July 1960, p. 356, clipping, JAP.
43. R. D., 'J. S. Furnivall', The Guardian (Rangoon) 28 July 1960, clipping, JAP.
44. George Bernard Shaw, ed., Fabianism and the Empire: A Manifesto (London, 1900).
45. 'The Fabian Society and the War' Reply by the Majority of the Executive Committee to the recent circular; 'The Fabian Society and Imperialism' Rejoinder to the Reply of the Majority of the Executive Committee; 'To members of the Fabian society', C54/1, ff. 1-8, FSP.
46. James Alexander, 'Socialism on Two Fronts: Shaw Against Marxism and Liberalism' unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1999), p. 156.
47. Francis Lee, Fabianism and Colonialism: The Life and Political Thought of Lord Sydney Olivier (London, 1988), p. 73.
48. Shaw, Fabianism and the Empire, p. 21.
49. Bernard Porter, 'Fabians, Imperialists and the International Order' in Ben Pimlott, ed., Fabian Essays in Socialist Thought (London, 1984), p. 54.
50. Cited in Alexander, 'Socialism on Two Fronts', p. 156.
51. Alexander, 'Socialism on Two Fronts', pp. 159-60.
52. See J. A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study (3rd. ed., London, 1988, c. 1902).
53. Cited in Alexander, 'Socialism on Two Fronts', p. 155.
54. Cited ibid., p. 160.
55. J. A. Hobson, 'Socialistic Imperialism', International Journal of Ethics, XII (1991-02), p. 44.
56. I b i d.
57. Nicholas Owen, 'Critics of Empire in Britain' in Judith M. Brown and Wm. Roger Louis, eds., The Oxford History of the British Empire; the Twentieth Century (5 vols., Oxford; New York, 1999), IV, p. 193.
58. Porter, 'Fabians, Imperialists and the International Order', p. 58.
59. J. S. Furnivall, 'Burma, 1902-1952: Then and Now', Lecture at Chatham House, 1952, p. 2, Box 10, File 28, JSFP.
60. G. F. McLeary, 'Olivier, Sydney Haldane', Dictionary of National Biography, 1941-50 (Oxford, 1959), pp. 641-2.
61. Rt. Hon. Lord Olivier, Imperial Trusteeship (London, 1929), p. 11.
62. Also see Olivier, The League of Nations and Primitive Peoples (London, 1918).
63. Furnivall listed under 'List of Fabian Society Members in Cambridge 22.6,46', F101/3, f. 40, FSP.
64. For example, see J. W. B. Money, Java, or How to Manage a Colony (reprinted, Singapore, 1985, c. 1861);
65. Henry Scott Boys, Some Notes on Java and its Administration by the Dutch (Allahabad, 1892). Ian Brown gives an insightful history of comparisons made between British and Dutch colonial administrations in his introduction to the 1985 edition of Java, or How to Manage a Colony.
66. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Far East and International Economic Relations', Sixth Session of the conference on the Far East, Culton Hall, Clacton, 1-4 Feb. 1946, sponsored by Fabian International Bureau, lecture manuscript, J61/13, ff 27-33, p. 3, FSP.
67. J. S. Furnivall, Netherlands India: A Study of Plural Economy (Cambridge, 1939), p. 261.
68. J. S. Furnivall, Reconstruction in Burma (Simla, 1943), p. 69, Walton Papers, London, BL, Oriental and India Office (OIOC), MSS Eur. D 545/30.
69. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Burma Education Extension Association', lecture to Education Department, Rangoon University 1926, Box 11, File 50, JSFP.
70. XYZ (J. S. Furnivall), 'Political Reconstruction in Burma', Pacific Affairs, XVI, 3 (Sept. 1943), p. 300.
71. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Training for Civil Administration in Netherlands India', Royal Central Asian Journal, XXVI, part 3 (1939), p. 428.
72. Ibid., p. 429.
73. I b i d.
74. S. R. Ashton and S. E. Stockwell, eds., Imperial Policy and Colonial Practice 1925-1945 (2 vols., London, c. 1996), I, lxxiv.
75. Rita Hinden, 'Socialists and the Empire: Five Years' Work of the Fabian Colonial Bureau' (Sept. 1946), Box 31, File 3, item 1, FCBP. That 'channel' certainly was 'direct'; 'Fabian' and 'Labour' were practically synonymous in the 1945 Labour Government, with the prime minister, nine cabinet members, and a majority among the 394 Labour M. P. s calling themselves Fabians (E. J. Hobsbawn, 'The Fabians Reconsidered' in Labouring Men: Studies in the History of Labour [London, 1964], p. 250).
76. That 'channel' certainly was 'direct'; 'Fabian' and 'Labour' were practically synonymous in the 1945 Labour Government, with the prime minister, nine cabinet members, and a majority among the 394 Labour M. P. s calling themselves Fabians (E. J. Hobsbawn, 'The Fabians Reconsidered' in Labouring Men: Studies in the History of Labour [London, 1964], p. 250).
77. J.S. Furnivall, 'Some problems of the Tropical Economy', in Fabian Colonial Essays, ed. Rita Hinden (London, 1945), p. 183.
78. Furnivall, Colonial Policy and Practice, p. 454.
79. Furnivall, 'Some problems of Tropical Economy', p. 182.
80. John Cady, The United States and Burma (Cambridge, Mass, 1976), p. 123.
81. F. S. V. Donnison, 'Contributions to Memories of District Officers 1930-1947', p. 16, Indian Civil Service (District Officers) Collection: Donnison, MSS Eur. F180/35, OIOC.
82. Arthur Creech Jones, 'Introduction' to Fabian Colonial Essays, p. 13.
83. I b i d.
84. See Kenneth Robinson, The Dilemmas of Trusteeship: Aspects of British Colonial Policy Between the Wars (London, 1965);
85. Nicholas Owen, 'Critics of Empire in Britain' (pp. 188-211)
86. and Ronald Hyam's 'Bureaucracy and "Trusteeship" in the Colonial Empire' (pp. 237-69) in Wm. Roger Louis, ed., Oxford History of the British Empire; the Twentieth Century (5 vols., Oxford, 1999), IV.
87. Furnivall, 'Some problems of Tropical Economy', pp. 161-84.
88. Rita Hinden, 'Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA): Colonial Problem', 3 Nov. 1945, Box 31, File 2, items 1, p 10, FCBP.
89. Creech Jones, 'Introduction', p. 17.
90. I b i d.
91. Sir Drummond Shiels, 'Self-government for Advanced Colonies' in Fabian Colonial Essay, p. 124.
92. Ibid., pp. 99-100.
93. Hinden, 'Army Bureau of Current Affairs (ABCA)', p. 10.
94. Shiels, 'Self-government for Advanced Colonies', p. 115.
95. Taylor, 'Disaster or Release?', p. 57.
96. Furnivall, 'Planning for Welfare in Burma' (1948), p. 20, Box 12, File 55, JSFP.
97. Some examples include Marjorie Nicholson, Self-government and the Communal Problem: A Study of Colonial Constitutional Problems arising in Plural Societies (London, 1948);
98. Fabian Colonial Bureau, Advance to Democracy: A report to the Fabian Colonial bureau on the implications of 'partnership' in multi-racial societies (London, 1952);
99. Nicholson, Co-operation in the Colonies (London, 1953).
100. Nicholson, Self-government and the Communal Problem, preface.
101. Rita Hinden, Empire and After: A Study of British Imperial Attitudes (London, 1949), p. 191.
102. Hinden, Empire and After, p. 192.
103. H. V. Wiseman, The Problem of the Plural Society: A Note on the West Indies (London, 1952), p. 1.
104. Labour Party, The Plural Society (London, 1956).
105. Paul Singh, Guyana: socialism in a plural society (London, 1972). Singh wrote, 'It was the Dutch economist, J. S. Furnivall, with first hand experience of the colonial Far East before the Second World War, who first focused attention on the peculiarities of the plural society' (p. 1).
106. 'The Far East and International Economic Relations' and 'Southeast Asia' Sixth Session of the conference on the Far East, Culton Hall, Clacton, 1-4 Feb. 1946, sponsored by Fabian International Bureau, lecture manuscript, J61/13, ff 27-33, ff 16-21, FSP; 'Economic Problems of the Colonies', Nuffield College Conference, Oxford, 1941, lecture manuscript, Box 10, File 36, JSFP.
107. Arthur Creech Jones, 'Some Considerations of Social Policy and its Cost' in Fabian Colonial Essays, p. 69.
108. Letter to David A. Wade from Hinden, 6 Oct. 1948, Oxford, Rhodes House, Fabian Colonial Bureau Papers (FCBP), Box 150, File 2, f. 4. It appears Wade had written to Hinden seeking information on Burma.
109. Letter to Hinden from Furnivall, 1 Sept. 1946 Box 31, File 4, f 2, FCBP.
110. Letter to Dodd from Hinden, 6 Sept. 1946; letter to Hinden from Dodd, 8 Sept. 1946, Box 31, File 4, f. 35 and f. 37, FCBP. For examples of Dodd's pamphlets, see The New Malaya (London, 1946);
111. 'Reconstruction in Burma and Malaya', in Colonial Questions: How Should Britain Act? ed., Fabian Colonial Bureau (London, 1944).
112. E. E. Dodd, 'Memorandum on British S.E. Asia', September 1944, Box 150, File 1, item 8, FCBP.
113. Furnivall, 'The Political Economy of the Tropical Far East', pp. 195-210, 205.
114. Dodd, 'Memorandum on British S.E. Asia', p. 2.
115. Letter from Dodd to Hinden, 4 July 1946, Box 31, File 4, f. 24, FCBP.
116. Letter to Woodman from Hinden, 28 July 1949, Box 33, File 2, f. 96, FCBP.
117. Letter to Hinden from Silcock, 30 July 1949, Box 33, File 2, f. 100, FCBP.
118. Letter to Wilfrid Benson from Hinden, 4 Sept. 1950, Box 64, file 1, f. 67, FCBP.
119. Secretary of Lord Farringdon, 'Burma Pamphlet: Comments by Lord Farringdon', n.d., Box 38, File 1, f. 5, FCBP.
120. Rupert Emerson, Review of Colonial Policy and Practice, by J. S. Furnivall. Pacific Affairs XXI, 4 (December 1948), p. 429.
121. Furnivall, Colonial Policy and Practice, p. 517. Author's emphasis, not in the original.
122. 'British Planning Expert for Burma', New Times of Burma, 2 July 1947;
123. 'To a Tune of £100 Millions' n.d., n.a.;
124. 'Burma Asks Englishman to Advise Them', The Age, 19 October 1950;
125. Alan Nicholls, 'Burma expert is he study of Asiatic' and 'A quiet Westerner's part ... Putting Burma on the road back' (Australian newspapers, circa 1950), H.M. J. S. Furnivall - An Appreciation', The Guardian (Rangoon), 14 July 1960, clippings, JAP.
126. Furnivall, Reconstruction, p. 89.
127. Letter to Dunn from Furnivall, 28 Feb. 1948, Box 1, File 1, pp. 4-5, JSFP.
128. To a tune of £100 Millions', circa 1949, newspaper clipping, JAP.
129. Hugh Tinker, The Union of Burma; a study of the first years of independence (3rd ed., London, New York, 1961), p. 137.
130. Letter to Dunn from Furnivall, 28 Feb, 1948, Box 1, File 1, p. 5, JSFP.
131. Leslie Glass, Foreign Office Minutes, 10 Oct. 1949, London, Public Records Office (PRO), Foreign Affairs-Burma Collection, FO 371/75691. I am indebted to Christopher Bayly for giving me the references to the archival documents from the PRO used in this article.
132. Glass, Foreign Office Minutes.
133. Extract of Furnivall's original lecture in 'The Financial Crisis and how to meet it', New Times of Burma, 10 April 1949, FO 371/75691, PRO.
134. J. S. Furnivall, 'The Financial Crisis and How to meet it', address delivered in Rangoon, 10 March 1949, manuscript, Box 1, File 1, JSFP. Emphasis in original.
135. Furnivall, 'The Financial Crisis and How to meet it'.
136. Letter to Ernest Bevin', M.P. from J. Bowker, 26 April 1949, FO 371/ 75691, PRO.
137. Handwritten comment on 'Minutes from Mr. Bowker, Rangoon. 26/4/49 on "Lecture by Mr. J. S. Furnivall, Planning Advisor to the Burmese Government, to the 'Burma Council of World Affairs"' in Rangoon', FO 371/75691, PRO.
138. Taylor, 'Disaster or Release?', p. 55.
139. J. S. Furnivall, 'Planning in Burma', 4 Jan. 1950, New Times of Burma, Box 11, File 46, JSFP.
140. J. S. Furnivall, 'South Asia in the World Today' in Phillips Talbot', ed., South Asia in the World Today (Chicago, 1950), p. 20. In this article, Burma is included in 'South Asia'.