Anarchism and the “Fascination with Empire”: George Woodcock in India, 1964–1985

Abstract This article critically examines George Woodcock’s travel writings on India between 1961 and 1981, exploring the tensions between his anarchist anti-imperialism and the cultural frameworks inherited from his upbringing in the heart of empire. While Woodcock admired Gandhi and sought to understand India through a lens of philosophical anarchism, his engagement was shaped by elite literary connections and orientalist tropes that complicated his vision. The article traces how Woodcock’s political ideals, literary influences, and charitable efforts intersected with postcolonial realities, revealing the paradoxes of Western radicalism in a decolonizing world. Drawing on archival sources and offering a close reading of his three major texts on India – Faces of India, Kerala: A Portrait of the Malabar Coast , and TheWalls of India – it highlights how Woodcock’s attempts to critique empire often carried unconscious cultural assumptions. Ultimately, it argues that Woodcock’s India writings offer a valuable case study in the complexities of cross-cultural intellectual encounter in the enduring shadows of imperial discourse.