Making of Distinctions

Towards a Social Science of Inclusive Oppositions

Edited by:
Antony Palackal, University of Kerala
Nandita Chaudhary, University of Delhi
Giuseppina Marsico, University of Salerno

A volume in the series: Advances in Cultural Psychology: Constructing Human Development. Editor(s): Jaan Valsiner, Niels Bohr Professor of Cultural Psychology, Aalborg University.

Published 2021

The volume revolves around the theme ‘inclusive oppositions’ in social sciences that address the issue of making of distinctions and create artificial dichotomies and dualistic view of society. It is set against the currents of systematic reduction of anthropodiversity and psychodiversity, which appears as a pathology of the current neo-liberalist and colonialist model of development. The volume is an attempt to overcome the colonial tendencies and forces to ‘standardize’ and ‘homogenize’ various categories and institutions in society by establishing structural relationality and intersectionality between the parts of the whole ecosystem where in the human and non-human intersect and interact.

The volume brings together a unique collaboration in the field of Cultural Psychology and offers the intellectual tools to grasp how a syncretic understanding of Identity and Culture unfolds, particularly in the key domain of gender. The chapters and commentaries uncover cultural dynamics and identity formation from a specific location, the region of Kerala in south-western India. The chapters and commentaries in this volume illustrates that Kerala is a cultural micro-cosmos, in which gender, identity, religion, ethnicity, caste, global market and tradition intersect to create complex and multiple subjects that do not fit in binary categorizations.

The compiled volume will be of great value to scholars, researchers and academicians in Social Sciences, particularly Cultural Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology, Social Work, Political Science, Philosophy, Anthropology and Economics.

CONTENTS
Introduction: Identity and Culture: Towards A Synthetic Understanding of Two Nebulous Concepts, Antony Palackal, Nandita Chaudhary, Giuseppina Marsico, and Jaan Valsiner. SECTION I: ETHNIC IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION PROCESSES, POLITICS AND PLURALITY. Transforming Oral Narratives into Written Discourse for a Wide Audience, Anitha Devi Pillai. Cultural Identity Challenges and Globalization, Sanaz Sadeghibaghdadabadi. Ethnic Identity and Political Power Between Tribal Groups in Kerala, India and Western Bahr, El-Ghazal, South Sudan: A Comparative Analysis, Wurok Chan Malith and Sobha B. Nair. Gendered River: Adivasi and Dominant Identities in the Mythological Renderings of the Thirunelli River, Wayanad, Kerala, Neeraja K. S. Tribal Women Identity and Eco-Development Programs: A Case of Paliyan Tribes in Kerala, Pushpam M. Commentary 1: Voicing, Silencing, Ventriloquizing and Speaking “On Behalf of”: Different Ways of Social Sciences, Luca Tateo. Commentary 2: Reflections About Cultural and Ethnic Identities From Dynamic and Dialogical Perspectives, Ramiro Gonzalez Rial. SECTION II: GENDER IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS. Women Action for Ecology Rebuilding the Identity Through Agriculture, Hilalulla K. B, Ursula V. A, P. B., and Shankar Narayan. Gender and Identity Issues of Women Entrepreneurs of Kerala, Sneha Gopeekrishna. Pretty Women Under the Veil of Secrecy: Vulnerability, Violence and Gender Inequality of Female Sex Workers in Kerala, Aroline K. Tom. Development of Identity Among Adolescent Girls in a Gujarati Community in Delhi, India, Dipjyoti Konwar. Absence, Agony, and Agency: The Experience of Gulf Wives of Low-End Job Migrants in Kerala, Antony Palackal and Sunil Kumar P. Commentary 3: Psycho-Cultural Explorations of Gender in Everyday Life: Gender Identity and Community Dynamics in India, Demet slambay. SECTION III: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES RELATED TO GENDER AND ETHNIC IDENTITY. Friends with Benefits Among College Students: A Cultural Change? Pramod S K. Changing Identities and Hegemonic Masculinities: A Study of Nair Women in Central Kerala, Lekha N B. Is Money Worth Absence? A Sociological Inquest into Disguised Gender Inequality, Rashmi M. and Lekshmi V. Nair. Distress Marriages in Kerala, Shani S. S. Commentary 4: Cultural Changes between Pluralism, Innovation and Conservatism, Emiliana Mangone. Commentary 5: Women in Kerala: A Commentary, Shraddha Kapoor. SECTION IV: MINORITY IDENTITY AND THE MAINSTREAM. Gender, Identity and Malayali Muslim Women: Towards a Decolonial Critique, Muhammadali P. Kasim. Intersex and the Constraints of Sex and Gender: A Silent Genocide, Neeraja Sajan. Institutions and Intersections: Identity of Woman in Muslim Religion, Bhargavi S. S. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Among Youth, Sajna Sajan and Jesline Maria Martin Mamen. Transgender Identity and Policy Discourses, Ligin K. L. and Nisha Jolly Nelson. Commentary 6: “Non-Normative” Identities and Bodies Crossing From Stigma to Dignity, Ana Karina Canguçú-Campinho. Epilogue: The Study of Identity and Culture: Future Directions, Luca Tateo.