Social and Educational Reforms — Definition

Definition

Social and educational reforms were attempts to change institutions, customs and access to learning in colonial India. Indian reformers, community organisations, missionaries and colonial officials participated for different reasons.

Debates concerned practices such as sati and restrictions on widow remarriage, but also who could attend school, what subjects should be taught and whose authority could justify change. A reform law could remove a legal obstacle without removing social resistance.

Likewise, a new college could expand opportunities while remaining inaccessible to many women and poorer people. Study reform as a contested process involving law, persuasion, institutions and unequal participation.