A Kerala Studies Blog
Billboards advertising luxury condominiums in Kochi, with their roof-top infinity pools, waterfront balconies, French windows, and Italian marble floors, are difficult to miss for any passing by the city. Reflecting on the rise of these new living spaces, Siddharth looks at what it tells us about Kerala’s changing urban space and social life, and its ties to the state’s altering migration patterns.
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The art of weaving grass mats is fast disappearing from a small village in Kerala, yet eight women weavers hold the fort against rapidly changing economic conditions. What is at stake in keeping alive an art form that seems to have outlived its times? Aswathy delves into this universal question by telling the story of the Killimangalam pulpaya and its makers.
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Was foreign soap a luxury product or an everyday commodity in early-twentieth-century Kerala? Greeshma Justin John follows the interesting history of soap as a commodity at this time, examining how it became a popular staple commodity in the region.
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കാർഷിക മേഖലയിലെ പ്രതിസന്ധി ഒരു ദേശീയ പ്രശ്നമായി നിലനിൽക്കവേ കേരളത്തിലെ ജൈവകൃഷിയിലെ മുന്നേറ്റങ്ങൾ പ്രതീക്ഷയ്ക്കു വകയുണ്ടാക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ? കഴിഞ്ഞ രണ്ടു ദശാബ്ദങ്ങളിലെ കണക്കുകളും കൃഷിനയവും പരിശോധിച്ച് ഈ മുന്നേറ്റങ്ങളെ അജിൽ വിലയിരുത്തുന്നു.
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Shravan M K discusses how the pandemic has affected the sale of lottery tickets in Kerala, and consequently, the livelihoods of lottery ticket sellers, many of who are elderly, women, or persons with disabilities.
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Akhila Kumaran delves into the pitfalls of understanding certain communities merely as ‘outliers’ to Kerala’s so-called development model.
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Yadu and Sujeesh analyse how the visual world crafted by the 2016 movie Kammattipadam provides minute insight into the class[…]
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കുറഞ്ഞ ജനനിരക്ക് വികസനസൂചകമായി കണക്കാക്കപ്പെടുമ്പോഴും, നിയമസഭാ-ലോക്സഭാ തലങ്ങളിലുള്ള ജനപ്രാധിനിത്യത്തിനു ഇതുമൂലം കോട്ടം സംഭവിക്കുന്നുണ്ടോ? ജെ. രത്നകുമാർ പരിശോധിക്കുന്നു. ജെ. രത്നകുമാർ ജനാധിപത്യത്തിൻ്റെ അടിസ്ഥാന ശിലകളാണ് സംസ്ഥാന നിയമസഭകളും[…]
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Alex M. Thomas makes a case for revisiting the life and work of K. N. Raj, a development economist who[…]
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As Kerala continues to assess the costs and responses to the pandemic, Pulapre Balakrishnan reflects on two potential post-covid challenges—changing[…]
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