Modernity and marginality a study on the fisher folk of colonial malabar 1800 1947

Abstract

This research investigates the complex relationship between modernity and marginality through a critical historical study of the fisherfolk of colonial Malabar from 1800 to 1947. By situating the coastal communities within the broader context of colonial governance and capitalist expansion, the study interrogates how modern reforms, institutional interventions, and evolving economic policies impacted the traditional social structures and livelihoods of fisherfolk. It particularly examines how the logic of colonial modernity, while framed as developmental, often operated to reproduce marginality, displace indigenous knowledge systems, and intensify socio-economic inequalities. Drawing upon an array of archival documents, fisheries department reports, petitions, and oral traditions, the thesis traces shifts in caste hierarchies, occupational patterns, gender roles, and education among fishing communities. It highlights the ways in which colonial interventions in fisheries—such as licensing, taxation, regulation of coastal spaces, and the establishment of fisheries training institutes—altered traditional forms of livelihood and governance. particular significance is the critical engagement with the 1919 Fisheries Training Institute in Malabar, seen both as a site of empowerment and colonial control. Structured across six chapters, the thesis covers themes such as ritual and caste traditions, economic transformations, institutional education, and subaltern resistance. The final chapters examine the emergence of community-led responses, including cooperative movements, legal petitions, and socio-political assertions against capitalist and colonial hegemony. Through a nuanced engagement with theories of colonial modernity, subalternity, and capitalist dispossession, the research argues that the fisherfolk were not passive recipients of change but active negotiators of their social and economic realities. Overall, the study offers an original contribution to South Indian social history by centering a marginalized community and critically analyzing how they navigated the forces of modernity and empire.