A Kerala Studies Blog
What does the ‘love jihad’ narrative mean for the people who are often forgotten amid all the fearmongering–the lovers themselves? Maggie Paul draws on her life to reflect on the insidious logics behind the idea of ‘love jihad’ and how it has taken root in Kerala.
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Ahnas offers a visual and experiential entry into the spectacular festival of Irupathettaam Onam of Ochira. At a moment when dislocated histories and reinterpreted myths are increasingly mobilized for divisive political ends, the article finds value in staying with the ‘feeling’ of belongingness and participation that a festival can generate and an art can nurture.
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In season 3 of the Ala podcast, we hold a series of conversations with educators, academics and activists on Education[…]
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The Svadeshabhimani was an influential newspaper of the Kerala Renaissance that was banned. Thought to be lost, its archives have been partially recovered over a century later. Sajitha Bashir presents us a glimpse into the recently digitised archives and the labour that went into making the archives accessible for all.
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Suraj Jacob examines the geography of BJP and Congress support through the history of Lok Sabha elections.
Read moreബിജെപിയുടെയും കോൺഗ്രസിന്റെയും പിന്തുണയുടെ ഭൂമിശാസ്ത്രം ലോക്സഭ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പുകളുടെ ചരിത്രത്തിലൂടെ സൂരജ് ജേക്കബ് പരിശോധിക്കുന്നു.
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Ala speaks to Ruchi Chaturvedi, whose book, Violence of Democracy, published this year, draws on years of engagement with political violence in north Kerala to think about the forms of violence produced by the very practice of democracy.
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Why are the state and the public unwilling to accept the hereditary rights of the protesting fisher community at Vizhinjam? In answer, the protests must be located within broader histories and discussions. Ala presents a translation of Sindhu and Robin’s article on the Vizhinjam protests first published in our September 2022 issue.
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തീരദേശത്തിന്മേലുള്ള തങ്ങളുടെ പരമ്പരാഗതമായ അവകാശങ്ങൾ സ്ഥാപിക്കുവാനായി വിഴിഞ്ഞത്തെ മത്സ്യത്തൊഴിലാളി സമുദായം നടത്തുന്ന സമരം സ്റ്റേറ്റും പൊതുസമൂഹവും അംഗീകരിക്കാൻ വിമുഖത കാണിക്കുന്നതെന്തുകൊണ്ട്? അരികുവത്ക്കരണത്തിന്റെയും പ്രതിരോധത്തിന്റെയും നീണ്ട ചരിത്രത്തിലെ ഒരധ്യായമായി[…]
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Kerala’s political fortunes and election outcomes have long interested researchers, but the phenomenon of ‘party villages’ and their centrality to electoral democracy in Kerala have been underexplored. Nitasha and Nisar offer us a glimpse into their study of everyday politics in a party village.
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