Faculty and Staff
Blair B. Kling
April 1994
Vita
Name: Blair B. Kling
Office: 427 Gregory Hall
Office phone: 244-2086
Education
B.A., History, University of California, Berkeley, 1950
M.A., History, University of California, Berkeley, 1955
Ph.D., History, University of Pennsylvania, 1960
Academic Positions
Instructor, Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1960-61
Assistant Professor, SUNY, Binghamton, 1961-62
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, Summer 1962
Assistant Professor, University of Illinois, 1962-67
Associate Professor, University of Illinois, 1967-76
Professor, University of Illinois, 1976-
Administrative Experience
Coordinator, Indian Steel Training and Education Program, Carnegie Institute of Technology, 1960-61
Senior Fellow, Calcutta Regional Center, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1964-65
Associate Director, Center for Asian Studies, University of Illinois, 1967-78, 1974-75
Relevant Employment Experience
Technical writer, U.S. Army QM Corps, 1950-53 (in military service)
Technical writer, RCA Atlas Missle Project, 1960
Publications
Books
The Blue Mutiny: The Indigo Disturbances in Bengal, 1859-1862. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1966.
Partner in Empire: Dwarkanath Tagore and the Age of Enterprise in Eastern India. University of California Press, 1976.
The Age of Partnership: Europeans in Asia Before Dominion. ed. with M. Pearson. University Press of Hawaii, 1979.
Articles
"The Origin of the Managing Agency System in India." Journal of Asian Studies, Nov. 1966, pp. 37-47.
Republished in Rajat K. Ray, ed., Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1992.
"Entrepreneurship and Regional Identity in Bengal." D. Kopf, ed., Bengal Regional Identity. Michigan State University, 1969, pp. 75-84.
Economic Foundations of the Bengal Renaissance, 1750-1850." R.V.M. Baumer, ed. Aspects of Bengali History and Society. University Press of Hawaii, 1975, pp. 26-42.
"Holden Furber at Work." B. Kling and M. Pearson, eds., The Age of Partnership: Europeans in Asia before Dominion. University Press of Hawaii, 1979, pp. 237-247.
"The Tatas and the Tagores" in Tony K. Stewart, ed. Shaping Bengali Worlds, Public and Private, Michigan State University, 1989, pp. 168-172.
"Rabindranath's Bonfire" in Bhabatosh Datta, ed. Rabindranath Tagore Commemorative Volume, Visva-Bharati Press, West Bengal, 1990, pp. 41-52.
"Dwarkanath Tagore" and"Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata," Biographical sketches to appear in Greater India Biographical Dictionary, ed. P. N. Chopra. New Delhi, forthcoming.
"The Indigo Disturbances," chapter in History of Bangladesh, 3 vols., Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka, forthcoming.
"Gandhi, Nonviolence, and The Holocaust" Peace and Change, vol. 16, No. 2., April 1991, 176-196.
"Voices of the Workers; Jamshedpur 1922" in Festschrift for S. K. Sen., edited by Chittabrata Palit, forthcoming.
Reviews
P.C. Ghose, Development of the Indian National Congress, Journal of Asian Studies, Nov. 1962.
A.G. Norrani, The Kashmir Question, J.A.S., Feb. 1966.
O.P. Goyal, Gandhi, An Interpretation, J.A.S., May 1966.
Mark Naidis, India, A Short Introductory History, J.A.S., Aug. 1966.
B.B. Majumdar, Indian Political Associations and Reform of Legislature, J.A.S., Feb. 1967.
Tarasanker Banerjee, Internal Market of India, 1834-1900, American Historical Review, July 1967.
Michael Brecher, Political Leadership in India, J. Asian and African Studies.
Leonard A. Gordon, Bengal: The Nationalist Movement, Asian Forum.
D.G.E. Hall, Henry Burney, A Political Biography, AHR, Feb. 1977.
Peter Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century, J.A.S., Feb. 1978.
N. Gerald Barrier, The Census of British India, a New Perspective, AHR, June 1983.
Leon Schwartzberg, Jr., The North Indian Peasant Goes to Market, Pacific Affairs, Spring 1984.
B.R. Nanda, Gandhi and his Critics, AHR, Dec. 1986.
Claude Markovits, Indian Business and Nationalist Politics, 1931-39, Pacific Affairs, Fall 1987.
Tapan Raychaudhuri, Europe Reconsidered, AHR, April 1990.
Judith Brown, Gandhi, Prisoner of Hope, AHR, June 1991.
Leonard Gordon, Brothers Against the Raj., JAOS, January 1994.
B.R. Tomlinson, The Economy of Modern India, 1860-1970, AHR, forthcoming.
Papers Read
"The Peasantry of Bengal Discovers its Legal Rights." A.H.A., Dec. 1958.
"Entrepreneurship in 19th Century Bengal." Inst. of Historical Study, Calcutta, 1964.
"Hindu-Muslim Relations in South Asia." Articulation Conf., University of Illinois, 1965.
"Industrialization in India: Myth and Reality." Articulation Conf., University of Illinois, 1966.
"The Indian Entrepreneur under British Rule." S.H.A., Nov. 1966.
"Entrepreneurship and Cultural Identity in Modern Bengal." 2nd Annual Conf. on Bengali Studies, Columbia, Mo., May 1966.
"Indian and British Businessmen in Calcutta, 1820-1860." A.H.A., Dec. 1966.
Commentator, panel on Indian Economic History. A.A.S., March 1967.
"Obstacles to Entrepreneurship in India." International Congress of Orientalists, Aug. 1967.
"Impact of British Economic Policies on 19th Century India." Seminar, Duke University, March 1968.
"Entrepreneurial History and South Asia." Conf. on South Asian Historiography, University of Minnesota, May 1969.
"Dwarkanath Tagore." South Asia Seminar, Oxford University, April 1970.
"The First Modern Indian Entrepreneur." South Asia Seminar, University of Pennsylvania, Oct. 1971.
"British Economic Impact on India and Indian Response." Seminar for Teachers, Indiana State University System, Terre Haute, Oct. 1972.
"Economic Foundations of the Bengal Renaissance." Seminar on Bengal, University of Hawaii, March 1972.
Chairman, panel on"Indian Entrepreneurship Before and After Independence." A.A.S., March 1972.
Discussant, panel on"Indigenous Modernizers and the Problem of National Identity in 19th Century Bengal." A.A.S., April 1973.
"Ugandan Asians as Entrepreneurs in Britain," South Asia Seminar, U. of I., Oct. 1973.
"The Non-Application of Science to Agriculture in British India," Sixteenth Annual Bengal Studies Conference, June 18-20, 1982.
"Corporate Business and Welfare--A Case Study of the Tatas," Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta, August 31, 1984.
"Social Responsibility in Indian Business: The Tatas" History Department Seminar, Bombay University, Dec. 3, 1984.
"The History of the Firm," Seminar of Tata Administrative Services, Bombay, Dec. 5, 1984.
"Report on Research in India on the Tata Companies," U. of I. British History Association, Oct. 15, 1985.
"Business and Social Responsibility: The Tatas of India," History Department Colloquium, Jan. 29, 1986.
"The Tatas: Social Responsibility in Modern Industry," Annual Meeting, Association for Asian Studies, March 21, 1986.
"Entrepreneurial Ideology: The Tatas and the Tagores," 20th Annual Bengal Studies Conference, May 16-18, 1986.
"The Board of Directors in a Managing Agency System: The Case of TISCO," Conference on Indian Business Institutions, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, April 1987.
"Gandhi and the Jews: Strategies of Nonviolence," International Society of Political Psychology, Tel Aviv, June 21, 1989.
"Gandhi as a Psychotherapist," Champaign area Psychological Society, January 17, 1990.
"Three Generations of Tagores," Rabindranath Tagore Festival, Urbana, Nov. 17, 1990.
"Religious Fundamentalism" Panel, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, U. of I., Nov. 14, 1990.
"Voices of the Workers: Jamshedpur 1922," Institute of Historical Studies, 29th annual conference, Calcutta, Nov. 21-23, 1992.
"The Subversive Historian in Jamshedpur," South Asia Brown Bag Series, Feb. 2, 1993.
Work in Progress
In the fall of 1987 I obtained access to the confidential business files of the Tata Iron and Steel Company, founded by Indian entrepreneurs in 1907 and still the leading private-sector company in India. Of these voluminous files I focused on those dealing with the labor movement in the steel industry from the founding of the mill until World War II. I returned from India with the equivalent of about ten reels of microfilm that include company correspondence and in-house memos, detailed accounts of the causes, workers' grievances, minutes of union meetings, copies of newspapers and government reports, data on working conditions, wages, internal ethnic and ideological conflicts among the workers and biographical data on union leaders. Among the themes I am writing on are conflicts between nationalist loyalties and class interests, peculiarities of labor-management relations in an Indian cultural context, and corporate culture and ethics.
Grants and Awards
Fulbright Grant to India, 1957-58.
NDFL Fellowship for Bengali, summer 1963.
American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship, 1964-65.
University of Illinois Faculty Research Grant, summers 1964, 1966, 1967.
American Philosophical Society Grant, summer 1965.
ACLS Grant for research in England, January-August 1970.
Center for International Comparative Studies, University of Illinois, summer 1973 for oral history project on Ugandan Asian Refugees in Britain.
Undergraduate Instructional Award to develop course on professional ethics, summer 1976.
Whitney Foundation grant to attend Tagore Festival, Dartington College, Devon, England, summer 1976.
Swift and Company Fellowship in food industry, economics, summer 1976.
Grant for Study in a Second Discipline (Social Psychology), 1980-81.
American Institute of Indian Studies Fellowship for research in India, June 1984-Jan. 1985.
American Institute of Indian Studies, Short-term Grant for research in India, Fall 1987.
Humanities Released Time Award, 1988-89.
Faculty Fellow, Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics, Fall 1990.
American Institute of Indian Studies fellowship for research in India, September-December 1992.
Teaching
Anthropology 168 Indian Civilization and Society
History 388 India from Colony to Nation
Religious Studies 268 Religious Rebellions and Messianic Movements in History
History 296 Life Experience in Historical Context: An Oral History Project with Older People,
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
PH.D. Supervision
Geraldine Forbes,"Comtian Positivist Movement in India." 1970. Published as Positivism in Bengal, Minerva Associates, Calcutta, 1975.
Charles J. Hall, Jr.,"From Religious Community to Political Rulers: Sikhs in the 18th Century Punjab," Ph.D. awarded 1981.
Veena Talwar Oldenburg,"Urban Change and Civic Elites: A Case Study of Lucknow, India." 1980. Published as The Making of Colonial Lucknow, 1856-1877. Princeton University Press, 1984.
Shamsul Huda,"Changing Elites in Chittagong, Bangladesh, 1939-1985," awarded, May 1989.
Sundata DebChaudhury,"Impact of Japanese Imperialism on Indian Nationalism, 1939-1945," December, 1990.
Pradeep Barua, 1992 - dissertation topic -"Indianization of the British-Indian Army Between the Wars."
Professional Service
Trustee, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1963-present
Senior Fellow, Calcutta, A.I.I.S., 1964-65
Membership Committee, Assoc. for Asian Studies, 1970
Advisory Editorial Board, Journal of Asian Studies, 1967
Fellowship Committee, A.I.I.S., 1969-70
Nominating Committee, A.I.I.S., 1975-76, chairman, 1976-77
Member, Board of Directors, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1977-79
Consultant-University of California Press; National Endowment for Humanities; Canada Council; Journal of Asian Studies
Organized panel for annual meeting of Association for Asian Studies on"The Moral Universe of the South Asian Businessman," March 21, 1986
Appointed to editorial advisory board of Revolt Studies, bi-annual journal of historical research, Calcutta, 1986
Outside examiner for Ph.D. For various universities in India.
University Committees
Policy
University Senate, 1973-74, 1988-89
Executive Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 1974-76
Chairman, Committee on Policy and Development, LAS, 1976-77
General Education Committee, 1978-79
Unit I Evaluation Committee, 1978-79
Chairman, Honors Council, LAS, 1986-88
COPE, 1988-90
LAS Policy and Development, 1988-90
International Programs
Executive Committee, Center for Asian Studies, 1962-75, 1978-79, 1982-83
Advisory Committee, Center for International Comparative Studies, 1967-74
Publications Committee, Office of International Programs and Studies, 1973-74
Committee on International Business Curriculum, 1973-74
Acting Director, Program in South and West Asian Studies, Spring 1990
Interdisciplinary Programs
Chairman, Social Science Lecture Committee, 1965-66
Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies, School of Humanities, 1972-73
Sloan Program in Engineering Education, 1973-74
Committee on Joint B.A. - M.B.A. program, 1973-7
Continuing Education and Public Service
Chairman, Committee on Public Service and Continuing Education, School of Humanities, 1973-74; member, 1974-77
Task Force on General Studies, University Council on Public Service, 1974-75
Producer, Bicentennial videotape series; consultant, Bicentennial community leadership workshops for Office of Continuing Education and Public Service, summer 1975
Organized"Festival of India" series, Fall 1985
Departmental and Activities
Advisor, Equal Opportunity Program, 1968-69
Coordinator, History Department Faculty and Graduate Student Seminars, 1963-74
Committee on Graduate Program, 1971-72
Computer Funding Committee, 1972-73
Department Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, 1975-76
Chairman, Committee on Undergraduate Instruction, 1976-77, 1978-79
Fund-raising Committee, 1983-84, 1985-86
Executive Committee, 1988-90
Chair, Undergraduate Program Committee, 1988-90
Representative for non-native English speaking teaching assistants