Research

Ever since doing my M.Phil Dissertation in the forest history of Cochin , I became very much interested in environmental history which is now my area of specialization. Colonial forest policy, ecological(plant) imperialism, technology and environment, memory and environment are the themes with which I engage with these days.  As of now, five PhD fellows are working under me on varied themes in environmental history like colonial forest policy, local environmental history, history of floods, landscape changes and trade and environment. I am open to PhD aspirants in the fields like oral history and film history. Memory and history(oral history) is the area which I read now and would like to interact with like minded people who specialize in the field. I am of the view that research in history is to be redefined and reconfigured in tandem with latest trends like environmental history and oral history. Serious research in these areas will elevate the discipline history to the status of an applied social science useful for the present society. I believe that every history is presentist and therefore poised to serve a social purpose.

Interests

  • Environmental History
  • Botany and Empire Studies
  • Plant and Ecological imperialism
  • Memory and History
  • Local Environmental History
  • Historiophoty(Filmic representations of the Past)

Research Projects

  • UGC MRP-Constructing histories through orality: Peasant migration to Idukki and socio-ecological transformations

    The project investigates in to the history of peasant migration to Idukki through documenting oral testimonies of the people in the area.

    ugc emblemIn this project an attempt is made to understand the history of the landlocked district of Kerala, Idukki, which is best known for the forests, Periyar river and Munnar where one could see the case of ecological imperialism and its impact in the form of tea plantations and the economy created by it. Due to the shortage of written materials on the issues highlighted above, a systematic recording and analysis of oral testimonies voiced by peasant migrants and tribals are made to understand the perspectives from the margins. The approach to this study is historical ecology and historical sociology. For analyzing the socio-ecological transformation of the region under investigation an interdisciplinary approach is inevitable. Since the sources for the study are humans who have inscribed themselves into their histories, the study appropriates much from mentalities history. In reality what is expected to be produced is voice of the past as Paul Thompson calls it and which is one of the best alternatives to logo centric elitist documentation. P.M John, popularly called Thaadi Achen (a senior with a long moustache), aged 95, Kunjettan, aged 75 and Panchan Sooryan, a tribal leader, aged 86, were interviewed intensively to see if there is a perspectival difference on the making of Idukki identity. This revealed the emotive heuristics of memory and the perspectives representative of the rich peasant, the lower peasants and the tribal. Their direct personal reminiscences reveal a lot of history of the area under study and which if properly recorded and analysed will lead to the reconstruction of history of Idukki from the point of view of the people. Their narratives are of immense socio -cultural interest and demand a wider penetration and scrutiny.

    The exodus of the peasants from the low lands to the high lands was adventurous as well as risky and they had to face a number of problems like attack from wild animals, diseases, shortage of food and natural calamities. Men along with their women and children overcame these challenges and in due course the peasants started settling in some areas and began cultivation. In its course the deep and dense forests gave way to agricultural fields, markets and towns with a number of roads and other infrastructural facilities. In all these they were supported by the unambitious tribal community who did not exhibit any mood to capture ownership of the land they possessed earlier. Churches, schools, colleges and hospitals were established and in the place of pristine forests urban spaces stared coming up. It is an irony of history that the state which encouraged these peasants to inhabit these areas became hostile to them and a number of struggles were organized by the peasants to establish their claims over the land.

    The memories shared by the three individuals are to be read against the broad contextual background of the migration process and the resultant social change. As they share their experiences in the forested land, on some planes they share identical concerns. No land record or any other governmental record could speak about the emotional character of the migration process and it is here the testimonies serve a great purpose for the historian. The mindset of the people during the active phase of migration and the successive stages can be gleaned through the emotionalized history they transmit. This is the strength of oral history and as this history comes out from the memorization process of the informant, there are areas where the informant himself makes a sense of the past.

    In documenting the history of the region, the historian usually rely much on the government reports, D.O Correspondences, Forest Records, and other important land records. These documents, as they were created by the governments in power are devoid of any reference about the men and women and their plight in the high lands. In a sense these records are constructed from the memory of those people who wielded power or by other agents appointed by them. They are part of the dominant memory. So long as the alternate memories are neglected, history will again remain like an elitist construction and that the memories of the people will die with them. Recording the evidences of the people is a way of democratizing the domain of historiography and empowering the historyless people belonging to different social classes.

    The professional historians, including the one’s in Kerala, exhibit a sense of contempt towards these testimonies, as they still hold the positivist logic of historical reconstruction. Why this attitude continues in India and a more literate state like Kerala is a matter for serious debate. When one thinks of the democratic state structure under which we live, it is a mystery that oral historical studies are very much neglected. There are many areas in Kerala history, where the historian can use oral testimonies for research. This is crucial in shedding light on many dark areas and liberating many histories. The attitude of clinging to written sources and material remnants restrict historicisation of people’s history to a far greater extent. The life history reviews or memories of Sooryan, Achen and Kunjettan have much to contribute for the historical research world. For an imaginative historian, archives is at the next door step.

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    Very short description of the project.

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  • Sample Project Title

    Very short description of the project.

    This could be a full decription about the project

  • Sample Project Title

    Very short description of the project.

    This could be a full decription about the project

  • Sample Project Title

    Very short description of the project.

    This could be a full decription about the project