Imperialism: a black and white issue?/Chapter2

During the nineteenth century, Great Britain was one of the leading Imperialist countries of the West and had colonies in India since the sixteen hundreds. At the end of the 19th Century, British emigration to India increased exponentially as the British Imperialist Government encouraged the ideological reproduction of the Empire (11). Nationalist British who moved to India considered themselves to be a superior race with respect to the black Indians. As they were a minority, the British were mainly interested in Indians for their army and as workforce while higher positions were reserved to the “whites” or in some cases to whiter skin Indians (12). The idea of a lighter skin ruling class being considered more privileged deeply embedded in the Indian culture such that even after independence in 1947 lighter skin was still considered more desirable (12). Market size for fairness cosmetics and creams in India is estimated to be approximately US$450 million today and the market growth rate for this cosmetic branch is 20% per annum (13). According to “A conjoint analyses of consumer preferences” by Dr. Ritesh K Patel (13) “It has been estimated that males constitute 20% of the total sales for fairness creams in India” and teens make up the 10% of sales of fairness skin cosmetics: these products have penetrated the Indian society as a whole. Skin bleaching products are not only widely diffused in India, but can be found worldwide and are very easily available as we can see from Figure 1, a picture taken recently in central London. Also, internationally renowned Western cosmetics giants such as Garnier, which owns 7% of the total market share (13), are the main actors behind this obsession with fair complexion that continues to grow exponentially. Figure 1. Skin bleaching cosmetic products found in London, 1 December 2018.