Social Spaces and the Public Sphere: A Spatial-history of Modernity in Kerala

This book explores how social spaces in modern Kerala reflect and challenge dominant social structures like caste and gender. It traces the transformation of public spaces through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, highlighting the struggles for access to these spaces and the role they played in shaping political culture and challenging dominant hegemonies. The book contributes to understanding modern India and is of interest to scholars and researchers in social history, political science, political sociology, gender studies, linguistics, and South Asian studies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 234 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Social spaces hold immense significance in unraveling the intricate tapestry of social relations within society. By examining everyday social realms such as teashops, reading rooms, and libraries, we gain valuable insights into how these spaces either reinforce or challenge prevailing social structures like caste and gender. Through a comprehensive study of modern Kerala, this book delves into these pressing questions, employing a multi-faceted approach that includes archival material, discourse analysis, participant observation, and personal interviews.

The volume specifically highlights the transformative journey of public spaces throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, emphasizing how modernity has simultaneously been a battle for equal access to these spaces. Non-institutional spaces, including teashops, markets, public roads, temple grounds, reading rooms, and libraries, have played a pivotal role in shaping political culture and challenging dominant hegemonies such as caste, class, and capital. The book suggests that the emergence of a secular public sphere in Kerala during the last century can be attributed to the ongoing negotiations between diverse ideas that were tested and refined within these social contexts.

In a world where digital spaces are rapidly overshadowing physical ones, this book serves as a timely reminder of the struggles that paved the way for the creation of secular public spaces in Kerala. It contributes to a growing body of research on public space that has emerged from various parts of the world in recent decades.

As a significant contribution to understanding modern India, this book appeals to scholars and researchers across a wide range of disciplines, including social history, political science, political sociology, gender studies, linguistics, and South Asian studies. Its insights into the complex interplay between social relations, modernity, and public spaces offer valuable perspectives on contemporary society and shed light on the ongoing challenges and opportunities for social transformation.

Weight: 625g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032118154