MIDGLEY, Clare (2017). The cosmopolitan biography of the English religious liberal, feminist and writer, Sophia Dobson Collet. In: HAGGIS, Jane, MIDGLEY, Clare, ALLEN, Margaret and PAISLEY, Fiona, (eds.) Cosmopolitan lives on the cusp of Empire: interfaith, cross-cultural and transnational networks, 1860-1950. Palgrave Pivot . Palgrave. (In Press) [Book Section]
Abstract
This chapter explores the cosmopolitan life of the little-known English religious liberal, feminist and writer, Sophia Dobson Collet (1822-1894). It examines Collet’s close connection with members of the Brahmo Samaj, a movement founded in 1820s Calcutta by Rammohun Roy to promote religious and social reform among Hindus. It shows her pivotal role in shaping a ‘cosmopolitan thought zone’ connecting Brahmos with British and American Unitarians, Transcendentalists, Theists and liberal Christians. Collet, if argues, enacted spiritual fellowship and a shared commitment to social reform within a respectful trans-racial and trans-faith affective community. Although she did not articulate an anti-imperial politics, she was committed to bridging the racialized divisions and hierarchies that characterised the ‘imperial social formation’ between Britain and India.
More Information
Metrics
Altmetric Badge
Dimensions Badge
Share
Actions (login required)
View Item |