Drawing on the work of the organisation she founded in 1992, the Dalit Women’s Society, Lovely Stephen discusses some of the most pressing challenges faced by the Dalit women living in colonies.
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Tag: social movements
Redefining the ‘Mappila Revolts’: Abbas Panakkal’s Musaliar King and the Resurrection of a Silenced Past
The Mappila rebellion of 1921 has been the subject of much debate and analysis in the historiography of Malabar. Colonial accounts at the time and popular discourse thereafter portrayed the rebellion solely as an instance of religious fanaticism. Fazal Rahman reviews Abbas Panakkal’s 2024 book, Musaliar King, which meticulously examines primary data to counter this image, showing instead that the rebellion was a milestone in anti-colonial resistance in India.
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The Masculinist Spaces of the Judiciary
Ala kicks off its new translation series, ‘Speaking Otherwise’, with a 2013 piece from the feminist magazine, Sanghaditha. Here, two women legal professionals draw on their experiences defending domestic violence survivors in Kerala’s lower courts to provide a grounded perspective of a foundational question that feminists raise: is the law a tool of change, or a tool for enforcing the status quo?
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The Subaltern’s Radical Voice: Appachan’s Way
Naveen Prasad Alex writes about Poikayil Appachan’s radical vision of caste abolition, memory, and unity—revealing the revolutionary potential of PRDS in reshaping Kerala’s subaltern history.
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Unveiling Women’s Leadership in The Kerala Renaissance
Popular readings of modern history in Kerala tend to focus on the many male leaders who led struggles for social justice. Naveen brings to light less-known incidents from these struggles to shine a light on the leadership of women in the struggles for caste and gender justice.
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[Podcast] Rethinking ‘Keraleeyatha’: Clothing and the Politics of the Body
We wrap up this season of our podcasts with Malavika Binny and Rekha Raj. In this episode, we explore how clothing, and by extension, the body itself, have been both sites of violence and protest in Kerala, and closely tied to questions of class and caste.
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‘Everything Old is New Again’: Telling the Story of the Sabarimala Battle
In anticipation of Deepa Das Acevedo’s forthcoming book, The Battle for Sabarimala: Religion, Law, and Gender in Contemporary India (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), Ala spoke to Deepa about the nuances of the case, and the meeting of the old and the new in this heavily mediatised legal battle for women’s entry into a temple.
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Fishers’ Rights and The Vizhinjam Protests: The Politics of Coastal Commons
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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The Dewan and The Reformer: Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyer on Sree Narayana Guru
Historian and writer Uma Maheswari shares selected excerpts of a speech delivered by Sir. C.P. Ramaswami Aiyer in 1942 about Sree Narayana Guru, his teachings, and caste reforms.
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Ala Podcast: LGBTQIA+ ആക്ടിവിസത്തിൻറെ രാഷ്ട്രീയ പാഠങ്ങൾ
ഈ പോഡ്കാസ്റ്റിൽ അലയോടൊപ്പം സംവദിക്കുന്നത് ബാംഗ്ലൂരിലെ മലയാളി LGBTQIA ആക്ടിവിസ്റ്റായ സുനിൽ മോഹൻ ആണ്. രണ്ടു ദശാബ്ദങ്ങളോളമുള്ള തൻ്റെ പൊതുപ്രവർത്തനത്തിലെ അനുഭവങ്ങൾ, കേരളത്തിലെ LGBTQIA രാഷ്ട്രീയത്തിന്റെ സങ്കീർണ്ണതകൾ എന്നീ വിഷയങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചു സുനിൽ സംസാരിക്കുന്നു.
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