ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the land restitution claims of the indigenous people of Kerala through a critical analysis of the legislative measures in place to restore land rights to the adivasis. It analyses the problems associated with the legislative measures for the restitution of land to the adivasis, the contested implementation, resistance strategies of the settlers and shifting policies in the context of changing governments. As Moore points out, it is important to pay attention to the micro-politics of the struggle over resources at the local level, in order to avoid representations of the 'state' as an undifferentiated actor with a 'unified intentionality, internally consistent in its agenda, structurally and automatically opposed to local interests'. Moore concedes that it would be wrong to underestimate the force of political economy, but at the same time he cautions that other important factors may be overlooked by too much emphasis on structural factors. The state in Kerala is undoubtedly a conglomeration of competing interests.
