%0 Journal Article
%T The Oft-Ignored Mr. Turton: The Role of District Collector in A Passage to India
%A Allen Mendenhall
%J Libertarian Papers
%D 2010
%I Ludwig von Mises Institute
%X E.M. Forster¡¯s A Passage to India presents Brahman Hindu jurisprudence as an alternative to British rule of law, a utilitarian jurisprudence that hinges on mercantilism, central planning, and imperialism. Building on John Hasnas¡¯s critiques of rule of law and Murray Rothbard¡¯s critiques of Benthamite utilitarianism, this essay argues that Forster¡¯s depictions of Brahman Hindu in the novel endorse polycentric legal systems. Mr. Turton is the local district collector whose job is to pander to both British and Indian interests; positioned as such, Turton is a site for critique and comparison. Forster uses Turton to show that Brahman Hindu jurisprudence is fair and more effective than British bureaucratic administration. Forster¡¯s depictions of Brahman Hindu are not verisimilar, and Brahman Hindu does not recommend a particular jurisprudence. But Forster appropriates Brahman Hindu for aesthetic and political purposes and in so doing advocates a jurisprudence that does not reduce all experience to mathematical calculation. Forster writes against the Benthamite utilitarianism adopted by most colonial administrators in India. A tough figure to pin down politically, Forster celebrates the individual and personal relations: things that British rule of law seeks to suppress.
%K libertarianism
%K e.m. forster
%U http://libertarianpapers.org/2010/44-mendenhall-the-oft-ignored-mr-turton/