Communism in everyday life : exploring the communist movement in malabar, 1939 to 1957

Abstract

The research paper, structured into six chapters apart from introduction and conclusion, is an enquiry into how communist ideology and political practices have been transacted through everyday interventions at the grass-root level. The party, from its beginning in 1939, managed to possess a dedicated and disciplined band of volunteers who constituted the backbone of the distress relief works of the party.With the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, a semi-famine condition prevailed in Malabar which was exacerbated by the spread of cholera pandemic in 1943 and small pox epidemics in 1944-45 period. The government machinery, with its limited resources, was not in a position to cater to the needs of the hour by proving relief to the entire population. It was at this juncture, the Communist volunteers worked in tandem with the government health workers to ameliorate the sufferings of the people by supplying food, medicine and other essentials.The Communists were also at the forefront of launching protests against irrational customs and practices in society apart from bringing the marginalized to the mainstream through programmes such as vayanasala and night classes. Their interventions in times of deaths, on occasions of marriages and in settling family and property issues helped to create a good rapport with the people. It was the distress relief works and the intervention of the communists in the everyday lives of the people that helped to foster the emerging public sphere in Malabar.In fact, the party had become a decisive catalyst for the structural transformation of the Kerala society in general and Malabar in particular. The services rendered by the Communist volunteers to redress the grievances related to the everyday life of the people were instrumental in enabling a space in the hearts of the people which paved the way for the victory of the Communist Party in the 1957 Kerala assembly election.