{"id":3446,"date":"2026-08-11T22:10:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/post-colonial-theory-of-the-state\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T06:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T00:34:20","slug":"post-colonial-theory-of-the-state","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/post-colonial-theory-of-the-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-colonial theory of the state"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"n-wrap\">\n<div class=\"n-shell\">\n<div class=\"n-crumb\"><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/\">PSIR Notes<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/psir-notes\/#i-a\">I-A Political Theory and Indian Politics<\/a><span class=\"sep\">\u203a<\/span><span>Post-colonial theory of the state<\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"n-head\">\n<div class=\"n-eyebrow\">Paper I \u00b7 Political Theory and Indian Politics<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"n-title\">Post-colonial theory of the state<\/h1>\n<div class=\"n-syl\"><b>Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-A \u00b7 2<\/b> \u2014 Theories of state : Liberal, Neo-liberal, Marxist, Pluiralist, post-colonial and Feminist.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"n-grid\">\n  <main class=\"n-body\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"post-colonial-theory-of-state\">Post-Colonial Theory of State<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">Meaning.<\/span> States that emerged after decolonisation, inheriting colonial administrative structures, legal systems, territorial boundaries and political institutions \u2014 India, Pakistan, Myanmar, South Africa and much of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many adopted the institutions of former rulers (British parliamentary democracy) yet carry limited capacity from colonial history and underdeveloped socio-economic structures. <span class=\"n-term\">Bhupinder Brar<\/span> would replace \u201cThird World\u201d with <span class=\"n-term\">\u201cPost-Colonial World\u201d<\/span> to capture colonial inheritance and developmental condition. The <span class=\"n-term\">liberal modernization<\/span> view (Western and World Bank economists) sees prosperity through liberalisation and global integration \u2014 which dependency theorists reject for ignoring unequal exchange and colonial legacies.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Riggs&#8217; lens \u2014 the post-colonial state caught between two worlds.<\/span> <span class=\"n-term\">Fused<\/span> (traditional order; one structure, many functions; ascription, particularism) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">Prismatic<\/span> (transitional \/ post-colonial (India); old &amp; new coexist; formalism, overlapping functions, bazaar-canteen economy) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">Diffracted<\/span> (developed (USA); specialised structures; achievement, universalism, functional specificity).<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Fred W. Riggs \u00b7 prismatic society.<\/span> Societies run Agraria \u2192 Transitia \u2192 Industria, and Fused \u2192 Prismatic \u2192 Diffracted. A prismatic society shows <span class=\"n-term\">heterogeneity<\/span> (modern and traditional together), <span class=\"n-term\">formalism<\/span> (gap between formal rule and practice), overlapping functions, mixed ascriptive-achieved norms, <span class=\"n-term\">polynormativism<\/span> (rational and irrational criteria coexist), a polycommunal character, and the <span class=\"n-term\">bazaar-canteen<\/span> economy (prices not set by the market alone; business influences politics \u2014 adulteration, black-marketing, hoarding). His <span class=\"n-term\">SALA model<\/span>: <span class=\"n-term\">S<\/span>pectrum (traditional+modern), <span class=\"n-term\">A<\/span>dministrative (bureaucratic formalism under pressure), <span class=\"n-term\">L<\/span>egal (law-practice gap), <span class=\"n-term\">A<\/span>political (blurred public-private). Value: constitutional modernity alone does not guarantee administrative efficiency.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Gunnar Myrdal \u00b7 the soft state.<\/span> In <em>Asian Drama<\/em>, a state whose institutions fail to enforce rules \u2014 weak implementation, indiscipline, administrative laxity, weak accountability; he used India to argue that poor enforcement obstructs poverty alleviation. Marked by corruption, social indiscipline, weak enforcement and flexible law; rooted in colonial legacy, social attitudes to authority, a Gandhian legacy of disobedience and lack of political will. Criticised for cultural determinism \u2014 it risks stereotyping society and explaining weak governance through culture rather than class power, colonial history or institutional design.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Dependency \u2014 the development of underdevelopment.<\/span> <span class=\"n-term\">PERIPHERY<\/span> (raw materials, cheap labour, surplus extracted) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">CAPITALIST WORLD SYSTEM<\/span> (unequal exchange) \u2192 <span class=\"n-term\">CORE<\/span> (finished goods, profit, power; metropolitan bourgeoisie). <em>core development = peripheral underdevelopment \u2014 periphery never truly autonomous \u00b7 Frank \u00b7 Amin \u00b7 Wallerstein \u00b7 remedy: delinking<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Post-colonial thinkers<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Frantz Fanon<\/span> (<em>The Wretched of the Earth<\/em>) \u2014 colonialism dehumanises; violence lets the colonized reclaim humanity; true liberation needs mental decolonization; warns neo-colonial elites may replace European rulers.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Kwame Nkrumah<\/span> \u2014 coined <span class=\"n-term\">\u201cneo-colonialism\u201d<\/span> (<em>Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism<\/em>, <em>Africa Must Unite<\/em>); control continues through economic influence; backed African unity and a Socialist Developmental State.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Ranajit Guha<\/span> \u2014 founder of <span class=\"n-term\">Subaltern Studies<\/span>; subaltern politics in a sphere separate from elite politics; history written \u201cfrom below.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak<\/span> \u2014 \u201cCan the Subaltern Speak?\u201d; <span class=\"n-term\">strategic essentialism<\/span>, where marginalized groups temporarily present a unified identity to secure change.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Edward W. Said<\/span> \u2014 <em>Orientalism<\/em> (1978): Western scholarship constructed the East as the \u201cOther\u201d \u2014 exotic and inferior \u2014 justifying imperial domination. <span class=\"n-term\">Aime Cesaire<\/span> marks the anti-colonial roots.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Homi K. Bhabha<\/span> \u2014 <em>The Location of Culture<\/em> (1994): <span class=\"n-term\">hybridity, mimicry, ambivalence<\/span>; challenges the rigid colonizer-colonized binary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Hamza Alavi \u00b7 the overdeveloped state<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For South Asia, especially Pakistan: a state apparatus disproportionately large, intrusive and coercive relative to the level of industrialization \u2014 \u201cthe \u2018superstructure\u2019 in the colony is\u2026 over-developed\u2026 equipped with a powerful bureaucratic-military apparatus.\u201d The colonial superstructure outlived a weak economic base; the state has <span class=\"n-term\">relative autonomy<\/span> \u2014 it may control the bourgeoisie rather than the reverse \u2014 and a <span class=\"n-term\">military-bureaucratic oligarchy<\/span> dominates (Pakistan), mediating three dominant classes: the metropolitan bourgeoisie, the indigenous bourgeoisie and the landed aristocracy. <span class=\"n-sch\">Ayesha Jalal<\/span>: Pakistan drew on colonial bureaucratic control and centralisation. <span class=\"n-term\">Mahmood Mamdani<\/span>: indirect rule left \u201cdecentralised despotism\u201d \u2014 a bifurcated state. Criticism: it is static and top-down, neglects subaltern politics and consent, conflates capital with the metropole, and faces empirical erosion (chronic fiscal weakness). <span class=\"n-term\">S. Akbar Zaidi<\/span>: \u201cPakistan may not have an overdeveloped state, but it certainly does have overdeveloped statist analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Significance &amp; criticism.<\/span> Useful for colonial legacies in bureaucracy, military and law, for dependency and uneven development, and for neo-imperialism, digital colonialism, climate and migration through historical power imbalance \u2014 showing why sovereignty stays contested. It is criticised for sometimes lacking a concrete theory of the state, being too Third-World-specific, and underplaying internal class, caste and gender variation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2020 \u00b7 10m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">Comment on the post-colonial theory of state (150 words).<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/comment-on-the-post-colonial-theory-of-the-state-in-about-150-upsc-psir-2020-0205\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<h3 id=\"the-overdeveloped-post-colonial-state\">The overdeveloped \/ post-colonial State<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Hamza Alavi<\/span> \u2014 the <span class=\"n-term\">overdeveloped state<\/span>: many post-colonial states inherited an excessively powerful <span class=\"n-term\">bureaucratic-military apparatus<\/span> from colonial rulers. Built to serve colonial interests, it became dominant in states such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, out of step with popular needs.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Structural mismatch<\/span> \u2014 a fully developed state machinery sits atop a socio-economic structure still in transition from primitive to modern; the mismatch stems from the <span class=\"n-term\">colonial legacy<\/span> \u2014 unlike the West, where the capitalist state grew with an indigenous bourgeoisie, the post-colonial state is an <span class=\"n-term\">imported institution<\/span> imposed on a pre-modern society.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">State and class<\/span> \u2014 multiple dominant classes (indigenous bourgeoisie, landed classes, metropolitan interests) influence the State, which mediates among them while retaining <span class=\"n-term\">relative autonomy<\/span>; a <span class=\"n-term\">military-bureaucratic oligarchy<\/span> holds significant power.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Issa Shivji<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">John Saul<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">Colin Leys<\/span> \u2014 in some contexts (notably African societies) the <span class=\"n-term\">state bureaucracy itself becomes a dominant class<\/span>, aligning with transnational capital or local elites as its interests dictate.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Nicos Poulantzas<\/span> \u2014 bureaucracy is a <span class=\"n-term\">social category<\/span>, not necessarily a class, though it may take class-like features where its power and interests are strong.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Colin Leys<\/span> (critique of Alavi) \u2014 Alavi over-focuses on bureaucracy and the military and neglects <span class=\"n-term\">ideology<\/span>, class relations and international capital.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Neera Chandhoke<\/span> \u2014 cautions against universal models; insists on the <span class=\"n-term\">specificity<\/span> of colonial histories and anti-colonial struggles, since universal theories miss the diversity of developing societies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2021 \u00b7 20m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">\u201cThe post-colonial state was thought of an entity that stood outside and above society as an autonomous agency.\u201d Explain.<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/the-post-colonial-state-was-thought-of-an-entity-that-stood-upsc-psir-2021-2803\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Answer frame \u2014 the post-colonial state as autonomous agency<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The modern state as an <span class=\"n-term\">imported concept<\/span>; liberal and Marxist schools gauge its claimed autonomy.<\/li>\n<li>Liberal lens \u2014 <span class=\"n-sch\">F.W. Riggs<\/span>\u2019s prismatic society (formalism, heterogeneity, functional overlap; bazaar-canteen economy) and <span class=\"n-sch\">Gunnar Myrdal<\/span>\u2019s soft state.<\/li>\n<li>Marxist lens (i) \u2014 instrumentalist \/ dependency: <span class=\"n-sch\">Andre Gunder Frank<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">Samir Amin<\/span>; contact with Western capitalism created, not solved, underdevelopment.<\/li>\n<li>Marxist lens (ii) \u2014 structuralist \/ overdeveloped-state thesis: <span class=\"n-sch\">Hamza Alavi<\/span>\u2019s structural mismatch between developed state machinery and a transitional base, owing to colonial legacy.<\/li>\n<li>The State mediates among competing dominant classes (indigenous bourgeoisie, landed classes, metropolitan capital) \u2014 hence relative autonomy and the appearance of standing \u201cabove\u201d society.<\/li>\n<li>Limits of autonomy \u2014 neo-colonialism and <span class=\"n-sch\">Immanuel Wallerstein<\/span>\u2019s world-systems theory; complete autonomy denied by external dependence.<\/li>\n<li>Prescription \u2014 autonomous, self-reliant development; India an exception that sustained democracy with development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"the-state-in-developing-societies\">The State in developing societies<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Diverse histories, traditions and socio-economic contexts; <span class=\"n-term\">colonial legacies<\/span> shaped structures and functions; models built for advanced capitalist states often fail to explain them.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Post-independence expectations<\/span> \u2014 confidence in the State as the engine of transformation; nationalist movements used the <span class=\"n-term\">colonial statist apparatus<\/span>; the State filled gaps left by an underdeveloped civil society.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-term\">Western liberal theories<\/span> (modernization, development) \u2014 emphasised state-led development but ignored local specificities; later criticised for <span class=\"n-term\">Eurocentrism<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"n-quote\">\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Riggs\u2019s prismatic society<\/span> Societies in transition from a <span class=\"n-term\">fused<\/span> mode (little differentiation) to a <span class=\"n-term\">diffracted<\/span> condition (high specialisation). Features: <span class=\"n-term\">formalism<\/span> (theory\u2013practice gap), <span class=\"n-term\">heterogeneity<\/span> (tradition and modernity coexisting) and <span class=\"n-term\">functional overlaps<\/span> \u2014 reflected in poly-communalism, the <span class=\"n-term\">bazaar-canteen<\/span> economy with price indeterminacy, and poly-normativism in decision-making.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"n-sch\">Gunnar Myrdal<\/span> \u2014 the <span class=\"n-term\">soft state<\/span>: limited capacity to impose social discipline and to enact and implement laws; reluctance to enforce laws against the rich, undermining inclusive growth. The neo-Marxist reading places the developing state within <span class=\"n-term\">dependency<\/span> and <span class=\"n-term\">class<\/span>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n-pyq\"><span class=\"n-pyq-chip\">UPSC 2018 \u00b7 10m<\/span><span class=\"n-pyq-q\">Describe the changing nature of the State in the developing societies in the context of inclusive growth in the 21st century.<\/span><a class=\"n-pyq-a\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/describe-the-changing-nature-of-the-state-in-the-developing-upsc-psir-2018-2802\/\">Answer<\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Answer frame \u2014 the changing developing state<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">F.W. Riggs<\/span>\u2019s prismatic society \u2014 bazaar-canteen economy (bargaining favours the rich) and the sala model of administration; family and community influence breeds inequality.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-sch\">Hamza Alavi<\/span>\u2019s overdeveloped state and <span class=\"n-sch\">Gunnar Myrdal<\/span>\u2019s soft state \u2014 limited capacity to enforce discipline, hence non-inclusive growth.<\/li>\n<li>Shift from state-led development to market reforms; the mixed-market model (India); China \u2014 a socialist polity with a capitalist economy.<\/li>\n<li>Globalisation aggravated inequality \u2014 the \u201c99% vs 1%\u201d effect and social unrest.<\/li>\n<li>21st-century turn to inclusion: participative culture; ICT-driven delivery \u2014 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana with the JAM trinity.<\/li>\n<li>Rights-based legislation (RTI); NGOs and voluntary bodies advance social inclusion; welfare and affirmative action drive structural transformation.<\/li>\n<li>The developmental-state debate: the capacity to penetrate society and extract resources as the key to inclusive development (East Asia).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"dependency-theory-and-the-dependent-state\">Dependency theory and the dependent State<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"n-lab\">Foundational thinkers<\/span>: <span class=\"n-sch\">Andre Gunder Frank<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">Ruy Mauro Marini<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">Samir Amin<\/span>, <span class=\"n-sch\">Walter Rodney<\/span>; the structuralist antecedent is <span class=\"n-sch\">Raul Prebisch<\/span> (1950s).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">International capitalism and unequal exchange<\/span> \u2014 <span class=\"n-em\">core<\/span> (developed) countries exploit the <span class=\"n-term\">periphery<\/span> (developing) through unequal relationships; wealth is transferred from periphery to core via unfair trade terms and profit repatriation (<span class=\"n-term\">extraction of surplus<\/span>).<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">The dependent state<\/span> \u2014 complementary to world capitalism; <span class=\"n-term\">strong yet dependent<\/span>: it appears strong domestically but relies on foreign capital and is subordinate to external interests.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Authoritarian character<\/span> \u2014 a weak local bourgeoisie pushes the State to expand its economic role; a <span class=\"n-term\">state bourgeoisie<\/span> emerges, tied to control over resources rather than ownership. <span class=\"n-sch\">Guillermo O\u2019Donnell<\/span> \u2014 the <span class=\"n-term\">bureaucratic-authoritarian state<\/span>: military, technocrats and foreign capital collaborate; <span class=\"n-term\">depoliticisation<\/span> suppresses civil society to enable capital accumulation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Dependency \u2014 surplus flows from periphery to core.<\/span> Periphery (developing world; primary producers) \u2192 Unequal exchange (unfair trade terms; profit repatriation) \u2192 Core (developed world; surplus accumulates). <em>The dependent state: \u201cstrong yet dependent\u201d \u2014 subordinate to external capital.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"n-term\">Criticisms of dependency theory<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Overemphasis on <span class=\"n-term\">external<\/span> factors, neglecting internal class dynamics and agency; the rise of an <span class=\"n-term\">indigenous bourgeoisie<\/span> challenges complete dependence.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"n-lab\">Varied development paths<\/span> \u2014 East Asian success shows development is possible within global capitalism; a macro frame overlooks specific <span class=\"n-term\">class relations<\/span>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"n-next\"><a href=\"\/psir\/notes\/pluralist-theory-of-the-state\/\"><em>Previous<\/em><b>Pluralist theory of the state<\/b><\/a><a class=\"r\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/feminist-theory-of-the-state\/\"><em>Next<\/em><b>Feminist theory of the state<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<aside class=\"n-rail\">\n<h4>On this page<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"#post-colonial-theory-of-state\">Post-Colonial Theory of State<\/a><a href=\"#the-overdeveloped-post-colonial-state\">The overdeveloped \/ post-colonial State<\/a><a href=\"#the-state-in-developing-societies\">The State in developing societies<\/a><a href=\"#dependency-theory-and-the-dependent-state\">Dependency theory and the dependent State<\/a><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Post-colonial theory of the state for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-A Political Theory and Indian Politics \u203a Post-colonial theory of the state Paper I \u00b7 Political Theory <\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"fx_note_key":"I-A.2.5","fx_note_sec":"I-A","fx_note_point":"2","fx_note_desc":"Post-colonial theory of the state for the UPSC PSIR optional \u2014 PSIR Notes \u203a I-A Political Theory and Indian Politics \u203a Post-colonial theory of the state Paper I \u00b7 Political Theory ","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3446","psir_note","type-psir_note","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_note"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5155,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_note\/3446\/revisions\/5155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}