4. Reasons behind transition

The arrival of prosperity and concomitant materialism

Prosperity breeds transition, transition from non-materialistic culture to materialistic culture. The arrival of globalisation, free market had affected agricultural and services sector of Kerala economy heavily. On the services front with the help of IT sector young engineers earned good money. On the other hand the immediate impact that globalisation had on the agricultural produce has led to the drop in prices of various agricultural products such as rubber, pepper … has led to misery of farmers. Land cost remained stable.

Globalisation has offered large number opportunities for young graduates especially in the software sector. This has in turn resulted in the accumulation of money in the hands of youngsters. The new-found money caused consumption culture to rise and flourish.

Setting apart the initial fall in the prices of different agricultural produce the farmers subsequently reaped the benefits of globalisation. The price of agricultural produce such as pepper and rubber has also seen huge increase in a short span of time and the same with regard to fall in price. This sky rocketing of prices for agricultural produce in a short span of time led to sudden prosperity of different regions. The accumulation of large sums of money suddenly into the hands of farmers who haven’t seen or managed such a huge sum of money has caused materialistic culture to flourish.

The manufacturing sector in Kerala remained comparatively apathetic to the phenomenon of globalisation.

Sudden prosperity always leads to changes in social behaviour. People neither have past experience nor have good management skills to manage the sudden prosperity. The only ethic that guides people appears to be the amount of disposable income that one has. The income is disposed as soon as it is amassed. Materialistic pursuits and consumption culture starts to dominate the society about which I shall deal in the subsequent chapters.

3.Manifestation of anomie

Transitional society’s anomy is manifested in all walks of life. Materialism seems to be the driving force behind this situation. High aspirations, increased unemployment, increasing female workforce, night life, pub culture, deteriorating quality of education, unscrupulous politicians, feminist movements, LGBT movement, increasing privacy, more leisure time, influence of mass media, moral policing etc. are indeed the characteristics of the transitional Kerala society. As it is these factors may contribute to the good or bad of the society but accompanying these transitions new norms are yet to crystallise or rather, they are in the making. Thus man is confronted with the dilemma what side he should take the modern or the traditional. Let’s look into an example which caught national attention that took place in Kerala which was a conspicuous example of anomie or the transitional nature of Kerala society.

Moral policing and Kiss of love

The event kiss of love -originated in Kerala and captured the attention of the whole nation- was in fact a reaction to the increasing moral policing that have recently become a pathogen on the educated Kerala society. The reason that the event caught national attention was due to rise of intolerant right wing groups and since this was the first outburst by the public or the post modernisers of the day. State’s failure to take action against the moral policing has inevitably culminated in the reactionary event.

On one hand the religious leaders and political parties clandestinely or overtly opposed the movement as it was against the accepted norms and customs of our society whereas right wing outfits have openly challenged the event and finally the event whether a success or not have shown us that there are people in our society who dares to challenge the authority overtly. While this is a positive element that I support the way they have chosen to speak against a social evil is not something that I endorse. Perhaps the success of the event itself was due to the method adopted by the protesters which was sure to bring the wrath of conservatives.

2. Conservatism and modernity

Kerala society is innately conservative. The influence of religion and the existence of traditions, rituals… are examples for this conservative nature of Kerala society. Right now our society is hastily moving away from conservative nature to modern rational nature. The protagonists of modernity are the youth of the day and the conservatives mostly consists of middle aged and elderly people. Thus the formations of two polarised groups have paved the way for conflicts to rise of late in our society. The new generation looks as if to be celebrating the arrival of modernity especially the youth of the day while the aged are sceptical about the changes happening around them.

Conservatism

In earlier times the norms of the society included obeying parents, choosing a career that parent select for you, choosing the bride or groom according to the wishes of family, obeying religious leaders, observing religious rituals… These customs, rituals and cultural symbols etc. formed the part of traditional Kerala society. Today the foregoing elements are increasingly being questioned by youngsters who are influenced by rationalism, societies outside, mass media, western culture and so on. Apart from these the religious values that have been entrenched in the minds of people in Kerala society are also being increasingly scrutinised by the modernisers.

Modernism

Modernity comes with posing questions to the existing order of society. Lessened hold of religion over the lives of people, materialistic culture, changing dressing patterns, changing food habits, dislike towards out-dated traditions, changing pattern of relationships especially the formalisation of relationships… are indeed the characteristics of our modernity.

As we have seen the characteristics of old and new societies we are confronted with the next important question; what are the driving forces behind this transition that is currently proceeding in our society. The driving forces behind this transition are dealt in the subsequent chapter.