Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

Socio-cultural processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi- A
Micro historical study
Abstract
The project has aimed at a micro historical study that would throw light on certain trends
in the contemporary social and economic life of Tirurangadi, which may be briefly
outlined as follows;
a) Although the region is entirely agrarian, a significant shift from agrarian to nonagrarian
mode of livelihood has been observed in the region, which is manifested
in the Census and the other relevant information base on the area.
b) This has resulted in the absolute decline of agriculture in the area. However, there
has not been corresponding increase of any of the non-agricultural forms of
production, and the only areas that seem to have developed are trade and
commerce and construction activities
c) A large number of households in the area have been subsisting on remittances
from abroad. The remittances have also been responsible for the commercial
prosperity of the region. However, this prosperity has been founded on flimsy
socio-economic base.
d) Despite this prosperity, a large number of people, especially women are
unemployed. This is despite the growth of educational opportunities and health
care facilities, and this means that a substantial percentage of the human labor
power in the region is unutilized or underutilized.
e) All these raise the problems of the future course of development of the region,
and the debates have been mainly concentrated on how to make the best use of the
opportunities provided by globalization. This also seems to be feasible in the
background of the remittances by the non-residents. However, there is the
question as to how far the market friendly option is sustainable; that is when,
agriculture is declining and no industry is emerging, and majority of the human
power is unemployed or underemployed, can we depend on market option and
remittances from abroad alone?
These observations provided the frame work of the project which was carried out in
three stages;
a) the first was a detailed geographical exploration of the region, through what the
research team called ‘walking’, which involved directly observing all the features
of geography, flora and fauna, settlement patterns and cultural spaces;
b) The second were interviews with the local population, both individually and on a
focused group basis, by convening small groups of old and experienced people,
called ‘karanavakkoottams’.
c) The third was a detailed socio-cultural survey of the region.
Primary and secondary sources on the region were also collected by the research team
simultaneously with the above mentioned stages of work.
The findings of our investigation, being included in the report are the following;