Engendering Political Labour: Findings from a Kerala Village
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2321023021999142 |
| Author | Anamika Ajay |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Engendering Political Labour:
Findings from a Kerala Village
Anamika Ajay1
Abstract
Literature on Indian politics has largely under-examined the role of the family in shaping party
politics with the exception of the studies on dynasticism. There is a paucity of research that looks at
the complex ways in which intimate lives and party politics are intertwined. This article contributes to
the existing feminist analyses of Indian party politics by conceptualizing politics and political labour in
a way that does not exclude the role of the family. It presents the case study of a village in northern
Kerala, which has been witnessing heightened political conflicts to show how personal experiences and
family disputes get politicized. As domestic and political spheres bleed into each other, political parties
become hugely dependent on feminine ideals and women’s everyday labour, affects and sociality to
survive electoral competitions. Yet, the patriarchal family and masculinized local party leadership use
gender ideologies to celebrate hypermasculine political participation, undervalue women’s labour and
limit their political aspirations.
Keywords
Gender, family, party politics, women’s political labour, Kerala
Introduction
Despite the centrality of family in all aspects of social life in India, studies on Indian politics have
surprisingly focussed very little on the complex ways in which the domain of family is linked to that of
party politics (Tenhunen, 2003). The only exception to this is the literature on dynasticism—a system
which allows persons holding positions of power within political parties creates opportunities for their
family members also to enter politics (Chandra, 2016; Chhibber, 2013). While there is little doubt that
dynastic politics is an important way in which the family influences party politics, the vast feminist
scholarship on social movements, political mobilizations and environment struggles reveal to us how the
domain of reproduction and localized notions of domesticity wield far more fundamental influences on
public politics than it is recognized in the existing literature on Indian politics. Feminist scholars have,
1 Independent Researcher, India.
Article
Corresponding author:
Anamika Ajay, Independent Researcher, Kerala, India.
E-mail: anamajay@gmail.com
Studies in Indian Politics
9(1) 37–50, 2021
© 2021 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
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DOI: 10.1177/2321023021999142
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