ABSTRACT
Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 46 The Problem and Its Significance: Objectives and Methodology ................................................ 46 Conceptual Premises: Subordinated Inclusion and Spaces of Subordination ...............................47 Dalit Colonies ............................................................................................................................47 Debating the Colonies: Thiruvithamkur and the Princely State of Pre-Independent Southern Kerala......................................................................................................................... 48 The Democratic State and the Colony ........................................................................................51 Colony and Society ....................................................................................................................52 Field Survey ................................................................................................................................53 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 58 References ..................................................................................................................................59
Introduction This chapter focuses on the relationship between the developmental state, specifically the Indian state of Kerala and Dalits.* The state’s affirmative action regarding Dalits dates back to India’s colonial period. One of the important policy measures, among many, adopted by the state of Kerala during colonial times sought to “ameliorate the conditions of the depressed communities” through the establishment of colonies.† Dalits, who were rehabilitated in the colonies, were laborers attached to paddy and garden cultivation. The term “colony” in this context can be understood as an area of land that was designated for habitation by Dalits, sometimes with a supportive resource base as land for cultivation. In this chapter, the term “colony” refers to a social space-a space of subordinated inclusion. These colonies have received a great deal of attention from the governments and, therefore, have functioned as a site of state development operations. However, an interesting contrast can be seen between colony-Dalits and noncolony-Dalits. Simply put, they appear to have very different positions as subjects. That is, colony-Dalits are seen as having a lower social standing both in terms of self-perception as well as in the eyes of “outsiders” including Dalits living outside the colonies and elsewhere in India. In this chapter, I seek to problematize the subject position of “colony-Dalits” by focusing on Dalit colonies or Dalits residing in distinct parts of India. In doing so, I focus on four Dalit colonies in southern Kerala, Thiruvithamkur‡ in particular, and explore varied dimensions of the process of subordination including social, historical, economic, and political dimensions, in addition to the process of subordinate inclusion in the larger context of the developmental discourse of modern Kerala, India.
