2BA (Hons) Fieldwork in
Human Geography: Kerala
Field Visit
Department of Geography
King’s College London
December 2013
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION Prof. Mark Pelling .......................................................................................... 3
CASE STUDIES ................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Do small-scale marine fisheries provide a sustainable livelihood for fishing
communities in Kerala State, India? By Georgina Howe, Emma Roberts and Nicole
Yih ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
2. The impacts of ICTs on the Keralan fishing industry. By Dan Hosking, Luke
Beardsley and Sophian Dahmani ................................................................................................ 5
3. Have increasing fish prices financially benefited members along the domestic
supply chain of fish in Alleppey (Alappuzha)? By Alexandra Oratore, Viran Patel
and Caleb Stone ................................................................................................................................ 6
4. Kerala: Gender Equality in the Division of Labour in Local Fisheries. By Vera
Gulbrandsen and Waseem Meghjee ........................................................................................... 7
5. What constitutes a successful woman? By Farzana Ahmed, Frances Hancock and
Shabana Khanum............................................................................................................................. 8
6. How and why has the increase of women in politics altered the perception of
women in society? By Lydia McSweeney and Ines Nebi....................................................... 9
7. Is there an existing correlation between education and migration patterns in
rural/semi-urban Kerala? By Pierre Swaelus, Xavier Nukajam, and Katie Matthews
............................................................................................................................................................. 10
8. Keralites’ migration to the Gulf: public and private responses. By Alesha de
Fonseka, Janice Leung and Neehar Ravi ................................................................................. 11
9. What are the perceptions of male students on gulf migration and how are these
views reflected in returned migrants? By Jack Bathe and Louis Pattison .................. 12
10. To What Extend has the Kudumbashree Initiative Helped Alleviate Poverty in
Kerala? By Sam Mitchell, Geoffrey-Peter Ross and Rodolphe Bichot ............................. 13
11. To what extent are disabled people integrated into society in Kerala? By Shahd
Hammou, Elisabeth Pramendorfer and Agnieszka Zajac .................................................. 14
12. How are patterns of dress among young women being influenced by social,
economic and cultural change? By Owen Dawson, Rachael Morey, Nikita Shah and
Stella Tsellingas ............................................................................................................................. 15
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INTRODUCTION
Prof. Mark Pelling
This report brings together snap shots of research undertaken by second year undergraduate
Geography students from King's College London in 2013. Projects are designed by students
with support from academic members of staff and implemented in collaboration with students
from Kerala acting as guides and translators – and becoming friends. Each project is a pilot,
with data collection limited to three days. Preparatory reading and lectures on Kerala's
development history and contemporary challenges alongside methodological literature help
provide a solid base from which student teams of three identify and develop their miniprojects. In the field work focuses on testing the validity of research questions and the
appropriateness of core hypotheses and chosen methods. The results are necessarily
indicative and reflect the views of a limited number of respondents. They are not
representative or analytically robust – but together they provide a vision of Kerala that is
open to an initial academic investigation; a set of studies that scratch beneath the surface and
in so doing raise more questions than can be answered by our visiting students!
Kerala continues to stand out as a global example of development that has succeeded in
raising overall wellbeing through placing emphasis on social development. At the same time
Kerala is tightly connected to India's and the global economy and to cultural fashions
accessed increasingly through the internet. Changing aspirations are reflected in choices
Keralites make on how to make a living, with many moving from agriculture into service
sector work. International migration to the Gulf states and further afield, and the sending of
remittances is important for the economy, but so to is the hosting of labour migrants from
Tamil Nadu and northern India. These influences produce an increasingly diverse cultural
context for study.
Our field work and projects often reveal the deep shifts taking place in Kerala at this time.
This is marked on the landscape as much as in labour relations and population dynamics.
Environmental changes in the past have been driven by the agricultural economy and are
inscribed on the landscape through the intensive coconut and rice agriculture of the coastal
plane, giving way to rubber and tea in higher elevations inland. Damming of lakes to provide
irrigation water has changed the ecology as well as economy of the coast. Sea-level rise and
coastal erosion is evident and is set to be a growing concern for the low-lying villages we
work in. Reduction in fish stocks at sea and inland also attest to environmental changes and
human impact.
Finally the projects in this report reinforce Kerala's reputation for political inclusivity and
equity. These are aspirations of course, but continue to be defended, as you will see from
studies presented here, from the perspective of women in decision-making positions,
especially in local government, and of the disabled and their carers. That geography matters
is clear from these studies – Kerala's development vision and policy is fixed by
administrative boundaries and aligned with strong cultural traditions joined up by common
environmental and economic contexts. But this vision is dynamic and underlying economic
and cultural as well as environmental systems are increasingly in flux. This produces a Kerala
that is at once unique and yet entrained within global flows and pressures. We hope that a
little of the richness of our learning from Kerala can be shared through the pages of this
report.
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CASE STUDIES
1. Do small-scale marine fisheries provide a sustainable livelihood for fishing
communities in Kerala State, India? By Georgina Howe, Emma Roberts and Nicole Yih
With a coastline extending to 370 miles, Kerala’s fishing industry has long provided a food
source for the Keralites. However with the increasing competition posed by international
trawlers, the capacity of small-scale fisheries to provide a livelihood is continually
undermined. Thus our study set out to explore the aspects to which Keralites consider
important for the provision of a sustainable livelihood and how they are able to finance this.
In order to investigate, we used two methods: semi-structured interviews and focus groups.
Both of their flexible natures enable respondents to answer structured questions and discuss
particular issues at the same time. There are five topical themes: aspirations to progress, the
changing work force, money, management strategies, technology and the future. Overall, my
group conducted six focus groups at fishermen homes, two interviews with fishing authorities
and nine fish market interviews over the course of three days.
The overall finding of our project was the conclusion that due to international fishing
trawlers, the fish stocks are being over-fished. This lead to difficulties for traditional fishing
communities as fish stocks and average sizes of species are being diminished. The aspirations
of local communities are to seek jobs in more stable, tertiary sectors for the younger
generations. A certain sense of acceptance and even content was felt by the older generations
despite the consistent opinion that the traditional industry will be destroyed in the future. It
could be argued that in the wider context of development, the traditional industries are
inevitably going to be replaced by mechanised practices however efforts should be made to
make fishing more sustainable to maintain this natural resource for future generations.
Interview with fisherwomen along the Thaikal Beach Fish Market
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2. The impacts of ICTs on the Keralan fishing industry. By Dan Hosking, Luke Beardsley
and Sophian Dahmani
The introduction of ICTs during the past two decades has enabled emerging markets all over
the world to speed up how they communicate ideas and transfer money and resources to each
other. The Keralan fishing industry has major economic and social impacts due to this
introduction. The four major players in the market are the fishermen, auctioneers, buyers and
transporters. During our field research we carried you interviews with representatives of each
category, although fishermen received the highest proportion of time. We also observe
actions at the fish market and could see firsthand how the four actors in the fishing supply
chain make use of ICTs.
The buyers and transporters liken themselves to entrepreneurs, and so to run their business,
ease of communication is a necessity to source their products and to move it to where the
demand needs to be met. The fishermen and transporters saw improvements in their quality
of life, allowing them to spend more time with their families and friends. The actors in the
supply chain have benefited from the introduction of SONAR technology, which enabled the
time spent wasted waiting for the shoals to be found to be drastically reduced.
However, due to technological difficulties, the signal range could not penetrate deep into the
forested areas. The implementation of 4G technologies would allow more people to access
their data connections. English is now being taught at most state schools, which means that
use of the internet for the future generations will only increase, making it financially
equitable to implement these changes, and allowing the whole area to increase its sphere of
influence. Creating an application in the native Malayalam to instruct local resident and
fishermen of any impending natural or economic disasters and fluctuations will only be a
positive. The information age now means that those with access to it can profit more than
those who do not, leading to uneven development.
Dan, Luke and Sophian during an interview with a fisherman’s household
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3. Have increasing fish prices financially benefited members along the domestic supply
chain of fish in Alleppey (Alappuzha)? By Alexandra Oratore, Viran Patel and Caleb
Stone
Kerala is a South Indian state with one of the largest coastlines in India. Fishing has long
been a significant part of the Kerala economy, with hundreds of thousands depending on the
industry for their livelihoods. International fish prices have experienced a steady rise in
recent years and the aim of the project was to examine the distribution of the financial
benefits gained from increasing fish prices along the domestic supply chain of fish. Based on
academic and other literatures available, the general consensus was that fishermen were
receiving lesser benefits than what they should be. This therefore prompted us to also explore
the development of this increasingly dynamic industry at the fishermen’s level, and to
ascertain what was causing a potential irregularity in the distribution of benefits.
A variety of techniques were engaged in the field during the research process. The primary
method involved semi-structured interviews with individuals across all levels of the supply
chain. The questionnaires were frequently changed and adapted to fit the irregular nature of
the industry’s structure, whilst sampling methods also faced compromises for similar reasons.
Group interviews and focus groups were also used throughout, although to a lesser extent,
and the assigned translator for the project period was consulted on any changes made to the
methodology to assure clarity in the field and for advice and support on how communication
may be made more effective.
The project findings were clear and distinctive. Wholesale merchants were those most likely
to benefit from the increases in fish prices as they possessed the storage facilities allowing
them to sell their product according to more favourable supply and demand conditions. They
were also capable of engaging in value-adding activities such as cleaning, sorting and icing
the fish. Local retailer merchants and high-end restaurants were relatively unaffected,
whereas fishermen, low-end restaurants and vendors benefitted least due to their lack of
access to financial capital to help invest in equipment capable of adding value to their
product. Co-operatives and the Panchayat were seen to be helping the basic development of
fishermen communities and their role in the industry; however, it was apparent that the levels
of aid given were exaggerated or out-dated when compared to the claims made by fishermen.
Small-scale retailers at a local fish market
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4. Kerala: Gender Equality in the Division of Labour in Local Fisheries. By Vera
Gulbrandsen and Waseem Meghjee
The Kerala “model of development” is famous for its progress in human development,
scoring impressively high on indicators such as life expectancy, literacy, infant mortality and
mean years of schooling and there is also evidence of great progress concerning gender
equality, shown by the high scores of both men and women on these indicators. However, we
found that there has been a significant decrease of female participation in the labour force in
the last decade. Therefore, with this project, we wanted to discover what gender relations
looked like beyond official statistics like the HDI - how the traditional and cultural gender
norms affect the division of labour, labour participation and people’s livelihoods.
We chose to focus on an interesting form of livelihood that reflects significantly all the
various dimensions of development, including economic, social and political implication, is
fishing. Using mainly semi structured interviews but also focus groups and a survey, we
collected data from 110 individuals connected to the fishing industry in different ways - we
interviewed fishermen, fisherwomen, fish vendors, women from a Kudumbashree with
fishing industry-related jobs, students, head loaders and auctioneers.
Our findings show a clear division of labour where women are excluded from participating in
marine fishing, which is the most lucrative and highest-status occupation in the industry, and
that this exclusion creates large inequalities and vulnerabilities. We found three possible
sources of the male dominance in this activity: influence of traditional views and folklore,
protection of male identities, and structural inequalities. Furthermore, we found that it is
culturally desirable in the fishing community for women to be housewives and that it is
almost only families with
marine fishermen who can
afford this status position.
Women work purely out of
economic necessity, and are
only allowed to participate in
lower-status activities. This
norm
is
detrimental
to
development as it causes
society to lose out on large
amounts of potential labour
power, and it also perpetuates
discrimination towards women
who are seen as subordinate.
Vera and Waseem during an interview with fishermen
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5. What constitutes a successful woman? By Farzana Ahmed, Frances Hancock and
Shabana Khanum
Kerala has been celebrated for its incredible social development in the absence of a strong
economic base, in particular achieving gender equality though education. However, despite
high educational achievements, women have very low work participation rates. Studies reveal
that women remain in the education stream longer, indicating a gendered division in course
choices, with a much lower presence in vocational courses, except for nursing and teaching.
This raises questions regarding the role of education if not for career advancement?
We were interested in women’s perception of what is makes women successful, what their
role is in society and barriers to success. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on
professional women, female heads of households and students in a focus group setting. A
participatory research activity was used during interviews with students to explore initial
ideas on the definitions of a successful woman and to prompt further inquiry.
Education is perceived as a crucial aspect of women’s life, primarily due to its capacity in
empowering women, giving them the courage to be independent. However, women’s duty
remains with their family. Women’s role in supporting the family is perceived as
irreplaceable, and thus what makes them successful. Furthermore, the barriers to success are
simultaneously viewed as the enablers of success. Decisions made at the family level
ultimately shape a woman’s future. As such, their support in encouraging women is perceived
as important in enabling women’s success. An area for further research includes focusing on
decision-making at the household level to thoroughly understand factors influencing
perceptions of women’s responsibilities.
Participatory activity with students at St. Michael’s College
Top traits of a successful woman
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6. How and why has the increase of women in politics altered the perception of women
in society? By Lydia McSweeney and Ines Nebi
Kerala is well known for its successful social development with the highest literacy rates for
women in the whole of India. It is these advancements for example that have propelled the
question of gender roles and the challenges imposed on women by the society. Yet there is
increasing evidence in the narrowing of the gender gap, with more women involved in the
political sphere. We therefore aimed to uncover whether the increase in women in politics has
changed how women are seen at various different levels. In addition, we also sought to look
at what the primary contributors to these changes have been.
In order to do this, we asked 3 groups of students aged, 15-18 a questionnaire consisting of
14 questions about themselves, their background, their views on women working and women
in politics. We also constructed semi structured interviews with women working within the
Panchayat, women in Kudumbashrees and women in households. These interviews asked the
women specific questions about themselves along with questions on a woman’s role in
society, their view of the equality laws, questions on women in politics and what they hope
for women in the future.
From our research we found that the increased participation of women in both the Panchayats
and Kudumbasrees encouraged self-sufficiency among women. They claim that if all women
have self-sufficiency, only then will they have true freedom and equality within society and
be less reliant on men. However, at a community level, it is apparent that the role of
Kudumbasrees has been more significant in improving women’s standing in society than that
of politics. Yet there is some consensus on the increased role of politics in the future, with the
potential to better implement legal frameworks for the advancement of the women’s cause for
equality.
Lydia and Ines with participants at a focus group
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7. Is there an existing correlation between education and migration patterns in
rural/semi-urban Kerala? By Pierre Swaelus, Xavier Nukajam, and Katie Matthews
In the words of Anil Gupta, professor in a prestigious managerial school in India; if the
country is to achieve a sustainable and equitable growth, the government must empower its
people through education. Today, Kerala’s 95% literacy rate ranks the state amongst the most
literate of India, perhaps of Asia and enjoys the highest Human Development Index (0.790);
nevertheless, this is not its only particularity. Beside, 25% of the region’s GDP is directly
stemmed from the remittance of three million Keralites, dispersed across the globe. For this
reason, our group has decided to enquire on the existing relationships between the high level
of education and young people’s aspirations in Alleppey, a costal semi-urban area.
In the space of this research, our group has meticulously sought to gather insightful and
intimate information on students, migrants, and teachers’ lives. Henceforth, focusing on
semi-structured interviews and focus groups, we interviewed around sixty people whose ages
stood between 16 and 72. This research methodology permitted our group to acquire a better
intelligence of the subject, in a short period of time. Moreover, feeling so close to these
people allowed us to understand the socio-cultural richness of Kerala on a broader spectrum.
Our research questionnaires were
divided into three different
sections:
1) The level of education and,
how Kerala’s system works and
evolves;
2) The level and trends/patterns of
migration;
3) The correlation between 1 & 2.
Students participating at a focus group
We found that education triggered students’ aspiration to improve their lives quality, but has
also helped, to a certain extent, to empower women in society. It is plausible that this
motivates student to take more specific subjects with hope to find better-paid jobs and more
employment opportunities overseas. In short, education embodies their passport for life and
triggers their aspirations. Moreover, we discovered that education is changing careers’
ambitions. Students’ qualifications are diversifying and it goes the same way for the
geographies of migration (more global) – in opposition to the 1980’s Gulf migration patterns.
Note that migration patterns may have changed due to changing employment policies and
availabilities in Gulf States since 2012. Furthermore, it can be added that such results could
provide interesting insights and indications for the prediction of future migration movements.
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8. Keralites’ migration to the Gulf: public and private responses. By Alesha de Fonseka,
Janice Leung and Neehar Ravi
This study focuses on the impacts of migration from Kerala, India to the Persian Gulf, and is
concerned with the resulting public and private responses to the migration trajectories.
International migration from Kerala has been steadily increasing since the 1940s, with 6.9%
of the total population of Kerala (33 million) living abroad. Consequently, both communities
in Kerala and abroad were impacted. In this research, public response is defined as
institutional or organisational reactions, such as policy making, whereas private response
refers to the ways families deal with the impacts of Gulf migration. The impacts and local
responses of Gulf migration on Kerala are thus examined.
To conduct our study we used two research methodologies- focus groups and interviews, we
conducted 15 household interviews (aimed at gathering impacts of migration on the families
left behind), a focus group with 11 students (aimed at understanding motivations for
emigration to the gulf, and the impacts of gulf emigration on the young generation). We also
conducted 3 interviews with organizations that support families left behind and migrants
abroad including the Catholic Church, the Parvasi organization that provides assistance to
migrants abroad through memberships to their organization and a government official.
We found that the main motives behind this phenomenon were a lack of well-paid jobs for
unskilled workers in Kerala, as well as the aim to gather enough wealth for dowries of sisters
and daughters. Spouses were often quoted to be unhappy with the lack of a central male
figure in the family, with few seeing it as an opportunity to assert female independence in
their husband’s absence but instead allowing their fathers or in-laws to control the major
decisions in this typically patriarchal society. The lack of any real current government action
means dowry is still a freely practised ceremony, even though it is prohibited by National
Law. This means many workers go abroad for this particular reason, with no awareness of the
mistreatment they face while under contract.
Kerala needs to move one step further
than just providing high school education
to ensure a high literacy rate; there needs
to be an increase in awareness about the
hidden truths behind Gulf migration and
questions need to be raised about why the
dowry system is still ingrained into the
practises of a state that is considered to be
so much more progressive than most of
India.
Neehar, Alesha and Janice visiting a family with
Gulf migrant relatives
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9. What are the perceptions of male students on gulf migration and how are these views
reflected in returned migrants? By Jack Bathe and Louis Pattison
Our aim within this project consisted of interviewing male secondary school pupils (ranging
from 15 years old to 20+) in a focus group setting in order to gauge their perceptions of
migration to the Gulf states and to try and figure out what might have influenced their
thinking on the subject. In addition to this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with
returned migrants; this, we felt, would allow us to get an indication as to the difference
between the perception and reality of working in the Gulf States.
Before coming to Kerala we had done some reading on the subject which suggested that the
life of the “Gulfan”, a term used to describe a young male who travels out to the Gulf in
search of financial gain, had been glamorised in films and by the media. We therefore
predicted that many young men would be interested in working in the Gulf due to this
implied reality. Further reading suggested that many Indians are exploited during their time
in the Gulf and, as such, we predicted that many returned migrants would speak negatively of
their time in the Gulf, contradicting the views of the students. What we found was the
complete opposite.
It was the students that mainly held a negative view of working in the Gulf and although few
had family members in the Gulf to use
as a source of information the media
seemed to be playing its part in
creating a negative view of the Gulf.
Other reasons listed by students for
their reluctance to work in the Gulf
included a slowing economy in the
Gulf, decreasing exchange rates, poor
climatic conditions, and exploitation
of workers. However, many students
expressed a desire to migrate
elsewhere, to locations such as
Australia, the United States, and the
UK. This indicated to us that views of
Gulf migration in India were
undergoing reformation.
Jack and Louis with participants at a focus group
When we interviewed returned migrants we were surprised to discover that many spoke
highly of working in the Gulf and all of them recommended that others should go there to
work. Most migrants found that Gulf work provided the financial stability they needed to
support their family; however they also identified the problem of exploitation existing mainly
within labour forces and less so amongst qualified workers. From this research we could
draw two conclusions; firstly it would seem that the students have been heavily influenced by
media representations of exploitation in the Gulf when in fact it appears to be less wide
spread than is perceived, indicating a media focus on negative aspects in the Gulf. Secondly,
we can assume upon speaking to returned migrants themselves many students may change
their mind about migrating to the Gulf and would perhaps be more open to the idea; however,
with that said, a growing movement towards migration to the West and Australia, as well as a
rapidly advancing India economy, may be enough to dissuade future migrations to the Gulf.
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10. To What Extend has the Kudumbashree Initiative Helped Alleviate Poverty in
Kerala? By Sam Mitchell, Geoffrey-Peter Ross and Rodolphe Bichot
During the first week of December, myself and two other researchers aimed to find out how
the Kudumbashree initiative, launched in 1998 has helped combat poverty in the state of
Kerala. The initiative is open only to females, but the literal meaning translates to prosperity
of the family. In order to attempt to see if the scheme was a success, we undertook 3 days of
data collection, in the form of group and personal interviews at the North Mararikulam
panchayat and 10 local Kudumbashrees. By asking sets of questions designed to gauge
opinions and insight into the initiative, we were able to gain interesting data and opinions on
the extent to the Kudumbashree’s impact towards alleviating poverty. Using participatory
methods of research, in the form of focus groups, we gained interesting knowledge on the
Kudumbashree system, its benefits and the criticisms surrounding it.
Our main findings demonstrated the benefits the initiative is bringing to alleviating poverty in
Kerala. Whilst a grassroots scheme, its multifaceted aspects such as improving financial
independence, social cohesion and additional income gained large amount of praise from the
women involved. There are clearly some difficulties with the scheme, including eligibility,
unsuccessful enterprises, widely varied rates of repayment (as high as 12%) on some loans
and a lack of proper training provided by the panchayat, however, as an overall scheme, it is
evident that the Kudumbashree is benefitting Kerala and Keralans, both economically and
socially.
As a recommendation for policy action, we would suggest closer ties between the panchayat
and kudumbashree. The panchayat is the essential link which delivers much of the
Kudumbashree’s investment and
teaching of vital skills, and it
appears in some Kudumbashrees,
these ties have broken down in
some aspects. Whilst the financial
aspects of the initiative seem to be
outweighed by the social benefits
of the scheme, it would be naïve
to judge the scheme solely on
monetary
profits,
without
considering the huge gains to
empowerment and inclusiveness
the initiative has bought to many
people’s lives.
Geoff, Sam and Rodolphe with participants at a focus group
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11. To what extent are disabled people integrated into society in Kerala? By Shahd
Hammou, Elisabeth Pramendorfer and Agnieszka Zajac
The aim of this project was to investigate different factors in which contribute to the
integration of disabled citizens into Kerala’s society. The three main focuses were on 1)
appropriate policy 2) economic access and 3) social stigma. All three evaluative factors
supported us in exploring how society perceives disabled people in Kerala and how they are
integrated into society. On the basis of our prior knowledge of developing countries, we
formulated the hypothesis that disabled citizens are marginalized in Kerala’s society due to
lack of services and public awareness.
The research was mainly conducted through the use of interviews. They were conducted in
consideration of three subcategories: group, expert and semi-structured interviews. Medical
students were interviewed in groups as well as some parents, whereas the expert interviews
(Panchayat leaders, NGO’s etc) were done individually. Semi-structured interviews were
used to enhance the data gathered, it was common for the interviewees to naturally secede a
question by something of interest to us, particularly the parents of the disabled children we
had met at the World Disability’s Fair, allowing further uncategorized scope.
The general findings of the research were that, indeed, disabled citizens and specifically elder
disabled people were significantly disadvantaged in society and struggled with very little
financial means. It was clear to see that a lack of economic access and appropriate policy lead
to social exclusion which birthed social stigma as people were unaware of the hardships
faced and unaware of how to include disabled citizens into society. We found that most
organisations relied on public donations, but the private and public disability services that
were available specifically for disabled children were of good standard, with qualified staff
and useful facilities, which parents and workers praised. However, employees of these
services hope for there to be more disabled schools in the future, preferably one in each
Panchayat, making it more accessible for all in need.
A traditional Kerala style meal with parents of
the disabled children at the World Disability Fair
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12. How are patterns of dress among young women being influenced by social, economic
and cultural change? By Owen Dawson, Rachael Morey, Nikita Shah and Stella Tsellingas
To research if clothing styles are being
influenced by western cultures. How
women access western cultures through
various types of media? Does
Bollywood have any influence in the
way women dress? How are Northern
styles influencing and homogenising
with the South?
We used semi-structured interviews to
gain the opinions and views of women,
mainly students and shoppers, aged 1630. We also conducted focus groups
with students from St Michaels
College. We also conducted short
interviews with shopkeepers in Allepey
and used personal observation as a
method to collect information about
shopkeepers and their establishments.
Clothing store in Alleppey
There has been a variety of social, economic and cultural influences that have alerted dress
patterns within Kerala amongst young women. Women commonly stated that they did not
like western clothing and do not wear it, particularly due to cultural constrains. Our results
highlighted that rather than global influences altering dress patterns in Kerala, national
influences are more common. North Indian influences are heavily incorporated into Keralan
culture; women commonly wear more north Indian clothing such as the Churidar and the
North Indian Sari.
The Keralan culture is in fact disappearing; however a national homogenisation in clothing
worn by women is occurring rather than global homogenisation through processes such as
globalisation. The shopkeepers informed us that the most common item sold is a North Indian
churidar. They decide what to sell based on consumer demand mostly; this suggested people
were more interested in wearing North Indian clothes rather than Western. Regarding places
where clothes are manufactured, Keralan styles are produced in South India whereas
Northern Indian and Western styles are produced all over the country. 66.7% of the
shopkeepers interviewed would like to sell Western clothes in their shops; they said they are
quite popular within towns. The shopkeepers who did not want to sell Western clothes stated
that they are too culturally inappropriate for Kerala.
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We would like to express our special gratitude to Dax Gueizelar
for his contribution to the organization of the activities in India,
for providing us with skilful and enthusiastic translators,
and for always being supportive towards our students and staff.
A great THANK YOU to all those people who made our experience unforgettable!
Academic staff participating in the Kerala Field Visit 2013:
 Prof. Mark Pelling
 Prof. Linda Newton
 Dr. Michal Chadwick
 Dr. Andrew Brooks
 Dr. Mirela Barbu
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