Mircea Raianu - Tata

Lekh

In the 30th episode, I speak to Historian Mircea Raianu at the University of Maryland on his recent book Tata: The Global Corporation That Built Indian Capitalism published by Harvard University Press in July 2021. The conversation begins by asking what sparked Raianu to write the book before he describes the materials and resources he accessed and used for the book. Next, we cover the book’s themes that makeup the book's structure and the reasoning behind picking these three themes: Tata’s overseas connections with the US and East Asia; control over land and resources; and scientific and technocratic expertise. We then discuss the book’s larger argument that of the Tata’s quasi-sovereign nature which allowed the firm to undertake and execute certain vital state-like functions over the 19th and 20th century. The conversation then dives into each of the three themes - overseas connections, Tata’s governance practices over land and resources, and their reliance on technocratic expertise and philanthropy. The conversation ends with Raianu's views on what aspects of the Tata’s operations and rise since the 1980's would feature in future histories of the storied firm and what Raianu is working on next.