Caste in Kerala
Caste in Kerala

Author: K. N. Panikkar

Publisher:

Published: 2021-06-21

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9789390430031

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The essays in this volume deal with caste reform movements in Kerala of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which form the most significant development in the history of caste in modern times. The core of this book Caste in Kerala consists of four essays on cast reform movements among the Namputhiris, Nairs, Ezhavas and Dalits. They are prefaced by two essays which discuss the origin of the caste system in Kerala and the historical process of its fragmentation and proliferation. The closing essay throws light on the role caste plays in contemporary politics. Over time, most of the external attributes of caste system have been rendered irrelevant by the changes that have occurred in society with the decline of the feudal order and the subsequent movements for caste reform. Yet, caste has persisted. An analysis of the internal contradictions within these movements throws light on the enigma that caste continues to be.

Social Mobility In Kerala
Social Mobility In Kerala

Author: Filippo Osella

Publisher: Pluto Press

Published: 2000-12-20

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 9780745316932

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Filippo and Caroline Osella, anthropologists who spent three years in rural Kerala, south India, write about the modern search for upward social mobility: the processes involved, the ideologies that support or thwart it, and what happens to the people involved. They focus on the caste called Izhavas, a group that in the mid-19th century consisted of a small land-owning and titled elite and a large mass of landless and small tenants who were largely illiterate and considered untouchable, and who eked out a living by manual labor and petty trade. In the 20th century, Izhavas pursued mobility in many social arenas, both as a newly united caste and as families. The work considers how successful the mobility has been and looks at the effects on their society of an ethos of progress. Distributed by Stylus. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Modernity of Slavery
Modernity of Slavery

Author: P. Sanal Mohan

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780198099765

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This text pushes further the debates on colonial modernity by bringing to the fore Dalit experience in Kerala. The question of social identity is addressed in this study by analysing the problems of Dalit identity in Kerala. The book is a product of interdisciplinary research based on new archival and ethnographic materials which contributes to debates on colonial modernity.

Culture, Ideology, Hegemony
Culture, Ideology, Hegemony

Author: K. N. Panikkar

Publisher: Anthem Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 184331052X

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This volume explores the interconnections between culture, ideology and hegemony in an effort to understand and explain how Indians came to terms with colonial subjection and envisioned a future for the society in which they lived. The process of exploring the indigenous epistemological tradition and assessing it in the context of advances made by the west was not unilinear and undifferentiated; it was driven with contradictions, contentions and ruptures. Locating intellectual history at the intersection of social and cultural history, the eight essays in this book cover a wide range of issues, moving from an overview of religious and social ideas in colonial India to empirical studies of themes such as indigenous medicine, the family and literary fiction. Professor Panikkar contests both the imperialist and nationalist paradigms of intellectual history. Meticulously researched and lucidly argued, his analysis is illuminated by a rare sensitivity to the nature of class formation and class values, as well as to the material conditions of human existence.

Against Lord and State
Against Lord and State

Author: K. N. Panikkar

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13:

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Arguing against the generally held view that the Mappila uprisings of Malabar resulted either from communal tension or agrarian discontent, this book analyzes the complex interrelationships between economic discontent and religious ideology in which the conflicts were rooted. Panikkar delineates the evolution of a negative class consciousness among the rural Hindu Mappilas from the early years of British rule to the final and decisive 1921 uprising against the lord and state.

Developmental Modernity in Kerala
Developmental Modernity in Kerala

Author: P. Chandramohan (Museum curator)

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789382381792

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This study of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam), one of the earliest social reform movements in Kerala, investigates the relationship of social reform, religion, and caste. The Yogam drew inspiration from the ideas of Narayana Guru, which suited the aspirations of the upwardly mobile Ezhava middle class, who were the main benefactors of the movement. In both religious and social matters, the Guru was a traditionalist who strove to create a modern outlook among the masses. He conceived of the temple as a social space where everybody could meet and exchange ideas. While pursuing his spiritual mission, he advocated education, industrialization, and abolition of caste as necessary prerequisites for social regeneration. This work demonstrates that the SNDP was an organization of an emerging Ezhava middle class, which worked as both its strength and weakness. It focused on such issues as education, employment in government service, industrialization, abolition of cyclical rituals and caste, anti-alcoholism and the demand for a new law of inheritance. However, some disjunction between principles and practice led to the decline of the SNDP movement. Ironically, since the movement was largely focused on the interests of the privileged section of the Ezhava community, it achieved Ezhava solidarity only around caste. This study is a significant example of how a social reform movement turned into a caste solidarity movement.