The Ford Foundation and educational development in early post- colonial India, 1951-1963

After independence in 1947, India started a complex trajectory of decolonization, state formation, and democratization. In this context, education was imagined and mobilized as a critical instrument in addressing the manifold challenges of nation-building. India's educational future was a matter of concern that transcended internal political dynamics and attracted the attention of numerous transnational organizations and state powers. As the world's largest democracy, India was perceived as a critical site for the outcome of the unfolding Cold War power struggle and for establishing geopolitical stability. In my research, I am interested in the way that transnational networks of educational experts, consultants, bureaucrats, and politicians explored the domain of education as an instrument for development during the 1950s and early 1960s. I want to understand how educational development formed a contested terrain for geopolitical influence. As part of my research on the influence of transnational networks on educational reforms in India, I focused on the role of the Ford Foundation. In this report, I highlight some of my preliminary findings. I describe how the Foundation became involved in questions of educational development in India, and how it succeeded in gaining a prominent place in the inner circle networks that developed new educational strategies and reform in India in the late 1950s.